Expand Your Horizons with Public/Private Connection Strings for MongoDB Atlas Clusters

We’re excited to announce a recent update that makes MongoDB Atlas easier for developers to use and expands the range of applications that can be supported by our cloud database service.

Customers can now securely connect to Atlas clusters from both public and private contexts with the availability of multiple connection strings. This enables several use cases - primarily for customers on GCP and Azure - including easier database connectivity, multi-region clusters, and access to Stitch, Charts, and Live Migration.

Simplified Database Connectivity

Every dedicated cluster on Atlas (M10 or higher) is deployed in its own VPC (on AWS and GCP) or VNet (on Azure). This ensures network isolation and allows customers to securely connect to their applications deployed on their own VPCs/VNets through network peering.

However, customers on GCP and Azure previously had to enable “peering only mode” if they wanted to connect their Atlas clusters to their own VPCs/VNets. This meant that they couldn’t add public IP whitelist entries to allow developers to directly connect from on-prem and local workstations. Instead, those users would have to connect via an SSH tunnel or bastion host, which was time-consuming and often difficult to configure correctly. If developers wanted to use MongoDB Compass, our GUI tool, they would also have to go through the same process.

With the addition of multiple connection strings, we’re pleased to announce that we have removed the limitation of “peering only mode”.

  • Customers can now connect their applications to a peered Atlas cluster on GCP or Azure with the new private connection string to keep data transfer within private networks.
  • They can simultaneously connect from whitelisted public IP addresses using the new standard connection string, giving developers more flexibility when it comes to building applications on Atlas.

Multi-Region Clusters on Azure

With the new connection strings, Azure customers using VNet peering can now extend their Atlas deployments across multiple regions for additional fault tolerance or use Global Clusters for low-latency performance worldwide. These options enable customers to expand their reach and serve audiences across different geographies while maintaining high performance and availability. Customers subject to data sovereignty regulations like GDPR can also easily pin data to specific regions to ensure compliance.

MongoDB Stitch, Charts, and Live Migration

Another benefit that comes with the new connection strings is the ability to use other MongoDB products and services like Stitch, Charts, and Live Migration. Customers on GCP and Azure with peering-enabled clusters can now take advantage of these complementary services to streamline application development, data visualization, and database migration.

  • MongoDB Stitch is a serverless platform that makes it easy for web developers to build front-end features without having to worry about back-end infrastructure. It offers an integrated suite of services designed to work together with your Atlas data - from functions and triggers to fine-grained data access rules and GraphQL.

  • MongoDB Charts is the data visualization tool built for MongoDB data. Use Atlas as a data source to create charts and graphs, embed them into your applications, and build live dashboards for sharing and collaboration.

  • Live Migration is a free service that allows customers using MongoDB to migrate their data from self-managed deployments to Atlas clusters with minimal downtime.

Bring Your Own DNS to Atlas on AWS

Customers with clusters on AWS who use VPC peering generally are not impacted by the new changes as the existing connection strings in Atlas are able to resolve to both public and private IP addresses.

The new private connection string does enable the use of a custom DNS provider with VPC-peered clusters as the private connection string exclusively resolves to private IPs rather than rely on automatic split-horizon resolution of the DNS provider. This removes some barriers to migrating from on-premise deployments to Atlas for customers who want to retain their own DNS providers.

Separately, AWS customers also have the ability to leverage private endpoints to connect to Atlas using AWS PrivateLink.

To disable "peering only mode" on your GCP and Azure clusters and start leveraging these great new features, visit our Connection String Options FAQ.

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Using MongoDB Skill Scanner to Build Better Training Programs

Technology leaders know that transformation is about more than just adopting modern technologies like MongoDB. The entire organization has to rally behind change — which is no easy task. The skills that modern development teams need are evolving faster than ever, and hiring to fill skills gaps can be too time-consuming and expensive of a process for many organizations. So it’s imperative that we plan for how we want to bring our people with us on our modernization journey, and proactively upskill them on the technologies we’re betting on. Because what happens if you choose MongoDB, but your developers don’t know how to use it? CIOs know that training programs are easier said than done. EY reported that 30% of CIOs acknowledge that their training programs are ineffective, and that they’re struggling to retain talent because of it. These leaders come to us to help them build and execute their MongoDB training programs , and seek advice on two extremely common yet critical challenges: How do we get away from the less effective one-size-fits-all approach? How do we measure the ROI of our training program and connect it to business impact? How we use MongoDB Skill Scanner to overcome training challenges Our Professional Services team uses a tool called MongoDB Skill Scanner to address both of these challenges. This tool helps us provide these three benefits to our customers looking to build a training program: Improve MongoDB proficiency: Teams can use Skill Scanner to quickly and easily assess the MongoDB skill gaps of their team members and gain a comprehensive understanding of their team’s MongoDB skills baseline. Increased productivity and accuracy: When team members have a comprehensive understanding of MongoDB, they are able to work more quickly and accurately on projects, leading to increased productivity and a higher quality of work. Save time and money with targeted Training: Using Skill Scanner, customers can avoid wasting time and money on trial-and-error learning. Instead, they can focus on improving their skills in a more targeted and efficient way with right-sized training plans. By leveraging this data, our customers’ engineers can engage in the right training at the right time, targeted for their job role and specific skill shortages. When a training program is built this way, engineers maximize their knowledge retention and minimize time away from their projects. Skill Scanner includes three role-based assessments, one for developers, database administrators, and DevOps respectively. Through a series of multiple choice questions, Skill Scanner provides customers with a clear understanding of their level of expertise across a set of technical skills that are critical for success in their role. After submitting the assessment, engineers will get results in each skill area outlining if they are beginner, intermediate, or advanced. Why data-driven training programs matter We’ve learned that it’s not enough to just tell teams to go watch training videos or webinars on their own, or to place everyone in the same one-size-fits-all program. Skills gaps vary from team to team, and individual to individual. The one-size-fits-all approach of some programs may not address individual learners' needs, wasting time and making it difficult for them to acquire new skills. By using Skill Scanner, we’re able to interpret this data to help determine which training courses your team should take. But we don’t only capture this data before doing training; we use Skill Scanner again after training programs are completed to see where immediate improvements have been made. This helps technology leaders prove the impact and ROI of their training, and gives them the confidence that their teams are ready to be successful with MongoDB. Developing a Precision Learning Program To go even further, our team can work with you to build a Precision Learning Program, where we use Skill Scanner data to build learning schedules that are unique to each individual. These schedules include a variety of short, blended, learning events such as classes, technical workshops, self-paced exercises, and project coaching. We’ve seen PLP lead to higher knowledge retention and of course, measurable project results. A customer who recently concluded their PLP saw a 43% increase in knowledge retention. Getting started building a personalized training program Skill gaps aren’t a novel problem IT leaders are facing. But with new digital courses, training, and technologies, the resources to close these gaps are at your fingertips. Skill Scanner and Precision Learning Program have been specifically designed to empower teams by offering targeted training that enhances their understanding of MongoDB. These short training events are carefully crafted to close skill gaps without compromising developer productivity. We’ve seen a variety of customers use this tool to help train their team’s individual needs, from needing to upskill new hires on their teams, projects with new MongoDB products, migrating to MongoDB Atlas, and more. It also saves your business the hours developers would've wasted searching for answers (and developers don’t want to spend their time that way, either). “We need help getting from point A to point B and feel MongoDB is uniquely positioned to help” — CTO at large insurance firm If you're interested in trying out MongoDB Skill Scanner or want to explore the MongoDB Precision Learning Program further, you can reach out to your account representative or contact us directly .

June 7, 2023