As a NoSQL database, MongoDB may not generate as much interest as other SQL database alternatives such as Hadoop. But in terms of momentum in the enterprise, MongoDB is starting to fill a significant application development hole.
Built around a document metaphor, MongoDB is making it possible for developers in the enterprise to build new classes of applications that require something more sophisticated than a basic file system but not all the complexity associated with a SQL database.
Looking to further expand MongoDB adoption, 10gen, a provider of support services for MongoDB, recently inked an alliance with Rackspace under which the cloud service provider will make available an instance of MongoDB on the Rackspace cloud.
According to Matt Asay, vice president of strategy for 10gen, the Rackspace alliance is the first instance of MongoDB in the cloud that comes with backup and recovery tools and cluster management capabilities. Rackspace previously acquired ObjectRocket, a provider of a database-as-a-service offering that is also based on MongoDB.
Within the enterprise, there is a whole range of departmental applications that were previously served by platforms such as Lotus Notes or Microsoft Access databases. MongoDB represents an alternative approach to quickly build similar classes of applications that will actually scale, creating a platform that for the first time provides an effective way for those applications to not become a major management headache for IT organizations once they begin to become popular with end users.
