Docs Menu
Docs Home
/
MongoDB Atlas
/

Create a Cluster

On this page

  • Choose a Cluster Type
  • Take the Next Steps

Use these resources to choose and create clusters and Serverless instances.

MongoDB Atlas can deploy two types of cloud databases: Serverless instances and clusters. You can use both clusters and Serverless instances in the same Atlas project.

You can also create a local Atlas deployment with the Atlas CLI.

Create a cluster if you want to:

  • Choose a specific database configuration based on your workload requirements.

  • Define database scaling behavior.

  • Run high-throughput production workloads.

  • Always have capacity available.

You can:

  • Set the cluster tier.

  • Use advanced capabilities such as sharding.

  • Distribute your data to multiple regions and cloud providers.

  • Scale your cluster on-demand.

  • Enable autoscaling. Unlike Serverless instances, autoscaling for clusters requires preconfiguration.

MongoDB bills clusters based on the deployment configuration and cluster tier.

Create a Serverless instance if you want to:

  • Get started quickly with minimal database configuration.

  • Have your database scale automatically and dynamically to meet your workload.

  • Run infrequent or sparse workloads.

  • Develop or test in a cloud environment.

Atlas automatically scales the storage capacity, storage throughput, and computing power for a Serverless instance seamlessly to meet your workload requirements. Serverless instances always run the latest MongoDB version, and you only pay for the operations that you run.

Create a global cluster if you want to support location-aware read and write operations. Location-aware read and write operations are ideal for globally-distributed application instances and clients.

Global Clusters are a highly-curated implementation of a sharded cluster that offer:

  • Low-latency read and write operations for globally distributed clients.

  • Uptime protection during partial or full regional outages.

  • Location-aware data storage in specific geographic regions.

  • Workload isolation based on cluster member types.

You can enable Global Writes in Atlas when deploying an M30 or greater sharded cluster. For replica sets, scale the cluster to at least an M30 tier and enable Global Writes. All shard nodes deploy with the selected cluster.

Important

You can't disable Global Writes for a cluster once it is deployed.

Create a local deployment to try Atlas features on a single-node replica set hosted on your local computer.

The following table indicates whether clusters or Serverless instances support the listed configuration or capability in MongoDB Atlas.

Note

MongoDB plans to add support for more configurations and capabilities on Serverless instances over time. To see the current Serverless instance limitations and learn about planned support, see Serverless Instance Limitations.

For the latest product updates, see the Atlas Changelog.

Configuration
Clusters
Serverless instances
AWS regions
Google Cloud regions
Multi-region deployments
Multi-cloud deployments
Sharded deployments
Advanced enterprise security features (including LDAP and database auditing)
Capability
Clusters
Serverless instances
Use the Atlas API
Monitor metrics
Configure alerts on available metrics or billing
Configure backups
Perform point-in-time or automated restores from backup snapshots
Use the Atlas UI (Find, Indexes, Schema Advisor and Aggregation Pipeline Builder)
Get on-demand index and schema suggestions

Important

You can’t migrate into clusters from Serverless instances.

For a full list of Serverless instance limitations, see Serverless Instance Limitations.

Once you select a cluster type, you can:

To create a cloud deployment, use the following resources:

To create a local or cloud Atlas deployment using the Atlas CLI, run the following command:

atlas deployments setup [deploymentName] [options]

To learn more about the command syntax and parameters, see the Atlas CLI documentation for atlas deployments setup.

For step-by-step instructions on using this command, see Create a Local Deployment.

Tip

See: Related Links

Back

Create & Connect to Clusters