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Managed databases help to reduce your operating overhead, allowing developers and analysts to focus on extracting maximum value from your data.

Table of Contents



What is a Managed Database?

Managed databases are cloud-based, on-demand database engines. A managed database service includes everything required to run your databases from the cloud – infrastructure, database engine, management tools – with no need to worry about licensing. Availability is typically guaranteed by a service-level agreement.

The database service provider is responsible for time-consuming, low-level operations such as platform management and optimization.

Service providers may also typically include intuitive, web-based user interface for managing various administrative tasks, such as:

  • Creating new database clusters.
  • Scaling or right-sizing database infrastructure to meet demands.
  • Monitoring uptime and tuning query performance.
  • Navigating and inspecting data.
  • Configuring backups and restoring data.


Why Move to a Managed Database?

Databases are a critical component in any application architecture. Prior to the rise of cloud-based databases, an organization had to collect all the database resources ahead of time and hire a separate team to keep up with hardware and software technologies. Managing them was complex and time-consuming, requiring a deep level of expertise.

We all want our database to be secure, monitored, reliable, scalable, robust, and high-performing. These characteristics are not simple to achieve, requiring skilled administrators to keep up with the performance of ever-growing databases. For these reasons, many organizations are moving to managed database services that can help scale databases and focus on business value.

There are many different types of managed databases that are all available in managed form. Modern databases like MongoDB that prioritize horizontal scalability (adding more computers to share the workload) become dramatically simpler to operate in fully managed form. If you’re already running a self-managed MongoDB database or operating your own database on-premises, fully managed services like MongoDB Atlas can make a huge difference in your productivity.

MongoDB Atlas is a cloud database service (sometimes referred to as managed MongoDB hosting) for deploying fully managed MongoDB across AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure, and guarantees availability, scalability, and compliance with most demanding data security environments using best-in-class automation.



Benefits of Managed Databases

Managed databases make creating, optimizing, and scaling your application much simpler.

Choosing a managed database service delivers some significant benefits. In addition to escaping the limitations of on-premises hardware resources, choosing a popular managed database service like MongoDB Atlas provides the following benefits:

  • Automationof database administrative tasks such as database migrations, creating backups, and performing updates which can be time-consuming in self-managed databases
  • Powerful search engines are built into managed databases like MongoDB Atlas, alleviating the need for your own search engine or database to query.
  • High-availability replication and distributed data is built in with failover capabilities.
  • Multi-cloud and multi-region capabilities extend the reach of your applications.
  • Zero-downtime upgrades and patches increase availability.
  • Push-button provisioning and configuration changes accelerate and simplify platform management.
  • State-of-the-art security practices keep data safe and secure.
  • Integrated regulatory compliance mechanisms remove risk from operations and help you avoid fines.
  • Online backup and disaster recovery protect business continuity operations.
  • Fast startup gets new projects to market sooner, reducing time to ROI.
  • Pay-as-you-go cloud service provides cost controls without limiting database operations.
  • Data Infrastructure as code simplifies infrastructure management by providing fully automated deployment through code including provisioning, access controls, networking, encryption, and backups.
  • Relieves pressures on your local data center and on-premises resources.

Take a look at the benefits of cloud databases for more details.



Summary

There is an increase in adoption of managed databases due to their ease of use, scalability, automated backups, upgrades, migration, and high availability, which can ease the stress of managing database resources and allow developers to deliver more value by focusing on important business features.

Don’t wait. Start your next application with a fully managed MongoDB Atlas database today.



FAQs


What are some potential impacts of a poorly managed database?

  • The inability to quickly adapt to changes in traffic patterns, leading to reduced operational performance and efficiency.
  • Slow application response time to user interaction, resulting in a poor user experience for the end-user and a reduction in productivity.
  • Potential undiscovered security threats that could lead to data breaches – and heavy fines.
  • Unnecessary amounts of scheduled (and worse, unscheduled) downtime that affect operations and profitability.
  • Slow time to get new applications and features to market, creating a competitive disadvantage.

Get Started with MongoDB Atlas

Learn more about managed databases with MongoDB Atlas.