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Create & Connect to Clusters

Create a Global Cluster

On this page

  • Required Access
  • Considerations
  • Procedure

This section covers enabling Global Writes on an Atlas cluster.

Required Access

To create to a Global Cluster, you must have Organization Owner or Project Owner access to the project.

Considerations

  • Before creating a Global Cluster, review Global Clusters Overview and Global Clusters Sharding Reference.

  • You can enable Global Writes in Atlas when you create an M30 or greater sharded cluster.

  • After you deploy the cluster, you can't convert a Global Cluster to a standard sharded cluster.

  • Due to sharding requirements, you can't load sample data onto a Global Cluster.

  • If this is the first dedicated paid cluster for the selected region or regions and you plan on creating one or more VPC peering connections, review VPC Peering Connections before continuing.

Procedure

1

In Atlas, go to the Clusters page for your project.

Warning

Navigation Improvements In Progress

We're currently rolling out a new and improved navigation experience. If the following steps don't match your view in the Atlas UI, see the preview documentation.

  1. If it's not already displayed, select the organization that contains your desired project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.

  2. If it's not already displayed, select your desired project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.

  3. If it's not already displayed, click Clusters in the sidebar.

    The Clusters page displays.

2

Open the Create New Cluster Dialog.

  • If you already have one or more clusters, click Create to display the Create New Cluster dialog box.

  • If this is your first cluster:

    1. Click Build a Database.

    2. Click advanced configuration options at the top of the screen to display the Create New Cluster dialog box.

3

Enable Global Writes for your cluster.

  1. In the Create New Cluster dialog box, select the Dedicated cluster type. For more information, see Create a Cluster.

  2. Click Global Cluster Configuration to expand the section.

  3. Toggle Enable Global Writes (M30 and Up) to On to display the Global Cluster configuration.

4

Select your sharding configuration.

By default, global clusters enable Atlas-Managed Sharding to automatically configure the shard keys and zones for the cluster. For each shard, Atlas creates a location field in the shard key associated with the corresponding zone so that Atlas can distribute data to shards based on geographic location. This option is recommended for most workloads.

If you're an advanced user and the default configuration is too restrictive for your workload, select Self-Managed Sharding. If you select this option, you must manually configure the sharding strategy by using mongosh or a supported MongoDB Driver. To learn more about zone sharding, see Zones. To learn how to add shards to a zone, see Manage Zones.

Important

You can't change between Atlas-Managed Sharding and Self-Managed Sharding after you deploy the cluster.

5

Select your preferred cloud provider.

Note

Each cloud provider has a selection of global regions to which Atlas can deploy a zone. The choice of cloud provider may support or constrict your ability to deploy a zone to specific geographic locations. The configuration options available and the cost for running the cluster may also vary depending on cloud provider selection.

6

Configure your Global Cluster Zones.

Atlas provides three options for configuring your Global Cluster zones:

  • Configure Global Writes Zones Using a Template

  • Configure a Global Writes Single Region Zone

  • Configure a Global Writes Multi Region Zone

Select the appropriate tab based on how you would like to configure your Global Cluster zones.

Atlas provides two templates for configuring Global Writes zones for the cluster, each with a description of the purpose of its underlying configuration. Click on a template to view the Zone Map for that template. The Zone Map provides a visual description of the cluster zone configuration, including estimates of geographic latency and coverage.

Click Zone configuration summary below the zone map to view a summary of each zone in the Global Cluster. Atlas provides the following validations for each zone:

Validation
Guidance

Low latency reads and writes in <geography>

Indicates the geographic locale for which the zone supports low latency reads and writes. The exact geographic locale specified depends on the preferred Region for that zone. You can modify the zone's preferred region in the Zone Configuration section.

Local reads in all other zones

Indicates whether data in this zone is replicated to every other zone for local secondary reads by clients in those zones.

Click the Configure Local Reads in All Zones button in the Zone configuration summary to automatically configure every zone in the cluster for local reads.

(Not) Available during partial region outage

Indicates whether the zone supports high availability, such that a majority of electable nodes remain healthy and reachable in the event of a partial region outage. Regions marked as Recommended in the Atlas UI support high availability during partial regional outages.

To learn more, see the following pages:

(Not) Available during full region outage

Indicates whether the zone supports high availability, such that a majority of electable nodes remain healthy and reachable in the event of a complete regional outage.

By default, each template deploys a series of single-region zones and builds a map of country and subdivision locations geographically near each zone. MongoDB uses this location-zone map to route read and write operations which contain location data to the shard or shards in the corresponding zone.

If you enabled Atlas-Managed Sharding, click Configure Location Mappings in the Zone Map to view the list of location-zone mappings. To customize the location-zone mapping, click the Zone dropdown for a given Location Name and select a new zone. Click the Reset button to reset a custom mapping for any given location. Click the Reset All Zone mappings button to reset all custom mappings for the cluster.

You can make additional configuration changes to each zone after selecting a zone template. For instructions, see the Single Region Zone tab.

You can also create Multi-region zones. For instructions, see the Multi-Region Zone tab. Clicking Configure Local Reads in All Zones converts all zones to multi-region.

Click View Zone Templates in the Zone Map to return to the template selection.

The Zone Configuration section allows you to configure each zone in your cluster. Atlas displays a drop-down box directly above the Zone Configuration that indicates the currently selected zone. Click the + Add a Zone button to add additional zones to the Global Cluster, up to a maximum of nine (9) zones. If you require more than nine zones, contact Atlas support.

The Zone Map updates as you modify each zone. If the Zone Map currently displays the template selection menu, click Configure Zones Myself to view the Zone map.

In the Zone Configuration section, click the Select the preferred region for your zone drop-down box and select a region as the Highest Priority region for each shard assigned to the zone. Atlas builds a map of countries and subdivisions that are geographically near the selected region. MongoDB uses this location-zone map to route read and write operations which contain location data to the shard or shards in the corresponding zone.

If you enabled Atlas-Managed Sharding, click Configure Location Mappings in the Zone Map to view the list of location-zone mappings. To customize the location-zone mapping, click the Zone dropdown for a given Location Name and select a new zone. Click the Reset button to reset a custom mapping for any given location. Click the Reset All Zone mappings button to reset all custom mappings for the cluster.

For each shard in the zone, Atlas distributes the shard nodes with respect to the Zone Configuration. You can add additional shards to the zone by clicking Additional Options in the Zone Configuration section and selecting the total number of shards in the zone from the drop-down box. By default, Atlas deploys one shard per zone. Atlas recommends creating additional zones to support heavy write load in a geographic region instead of adding multiple shards to a single zone. Atlas supports no more than 70 shards per Global Cluster.

Important

Selecting a zone template resets any configuration changes made in the Zone Configuration section to the default for the selected template.

The Zone Configuration section allows you to configure each zone in your cluster. Atlas displays a drop-down box directly above the Zone Configuration that indicates the currently selected zone. Click the + Add a Zone button to add additional zones to the Global Cluster, up to a maximum of nine (9) zones. If you require more than nine zones, contact Atlas support.

The Zone Map updates as you modify each zone. If the Zone Map currently displays the template selection menu, click Configure Zones Myself to view the Zone map.

Click the Select Multi-Region, Workload Isolation and Replication Options button to display the multi-region configuration controls. Zones for which you toggled the Configure Local Reads in All Zones in the Zone configuration summary display the multi-region zone controls by default.

Electable nodes for high availability Configure the Highest Priority and Electable nodes in the zone.

See also:

Global Write Zones and Zone Mapping.

If you add regions with electable nodes, you:

  • increase data availability and

  • reduce the impact of data center outages.

You may set different regions from one cloud provider or choose different cloud providers.

Atlas sets the node in the first row of the Electable nodes table as the Highest Priority region.

Atlas prioritizes nodes in this region for primary eligibility. Other nodes rank in the order that they appear. For more information, see Member Priority.

Click Add a region to add a new row for region selection and select the region from the dropdown. Specify the desired number of Nodes for the region. The total number of electable nodes across all regions in the zone must be 3, 5, or 7.

Atlas builds a map of countries and subdivisions geographically near the selected region for the Highest Priority node. MongoDB uses this location-zone map to route read and write operations which contain location data to the shard or shards in the corresponding zone.

If you enabled Atlas-Managed Sharding, click Configure Location Mappings in the Zone Map to view the list of location-zone mappings. To customize the location-zone mapping, click the Zone dropdown for a given Location Name and select a new zone. Click the Reset button to reset a custom mapping for any given location. Click the Reset All Zone mappings button to reset all custom mappings for the cluster.

Read-only nodes for optimal local reads Configure the Read-only nodes in the zone. Each row represents one Region where Atlas deploys the configured Number of Nodes of the Read-only Node Type.

Click Add a region to add additional Read-only rows. Consider adding Read-only nodes in each region where you want to facilitate local secondary read operations.

Analytics nodes for workload isolation

Use analytics nodes to isolate queries which you do not wish to contend with your operational workload. Analytics nodes help handle data analysis operations, such as reporting queries from BI Connector for Atlas. To direct queries to analytics nodes, use pre-defined replica set tags.

Click Add a region to select a region in which to deploy analytics nodes. Specify the desired number of Nodes for the region.

For each shard in the zone, Atlas distributes the shard nodes with respect to the Zone Configuration. You can add additional shards to the zone by clicking Additional Options in the Zone Configuration section and selecting the total number of shards in the zone from the drop-down box. By default, Atlas deploys one shard per zone. Atlas recommends creating additional zones to support heavy write load in a geographic region instead of adding multiple shards to a single zone. Atlas supports no more than 70 shards per Global Cluster.

Important

Selecting a zone template resets any configuration changes made in the Zone Configuration section to the default for the selected template.

Note

Removing Zones from an Existing Global Cluster

If you are using the standard connection string format rather than the DNS seedlist format, removing an entire zone from an existing global cluster may result in a new connection string.

To verify the correct connection string after deploying the changes:

  1. In Atlas, go to the Clusters page for your project.

    Warning

    Navigation Improvements In Progress

    We're currently rolling out a new and improved navigation experience. If the following steps don't match your view in the Atlas UI, see the preview documentation.

    1. If it's not already displayed, select the organization that contains your desired project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.

    2. If it's not already displayed, select your desired project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.

    3. If it's not already displayed, click Clusters in the sidebar.

      The Clusters page displays.

  2. Verify the connection string.

    Click Connect.

7

Select the Cluster Tier.

To use Global Clusters, you must select a cluster tier that is M30 or larger.

The selected tier dictates the memory, storage, vCPUs, and IOPS specification for each data-bearing server in the cluster.

For more information on how to select an appropriate cluster tier and storage settings for your workload, see Select Cluster Tier and Customize Cluster Storage.

8

Select any Additional Settings.

From the Additional Settings section for Global Clusters, you can:

9

Specify the Cluster Name.

This is the cluster name as it appears in Atlas. You can't change the cluster name once Atlas deploys the cluster.

Cluster names can't exceed 64 characters in length.

Important

Atlas truncates the cluster name to 23 characters in its internal interactions. In practice, this means:

  • Cluster names shorter than 23 characters can't end with hyphen or dash (-).

  • Cluster names 23 characters or longer can't use a hyphen or dash (-) as its 23rd character.

  • The first 23 characters in a cluster name must be unique within a project.

Don't include sensitive information in your cluster name.

10

Proceed to checkout. Click Create Cluster below the form and complete the billing information only if it doesn't already exist. If your organization already has the billing information, Atlas deploys your cluster.

11

Update your Billing Address details as needed.

Field
Necessity
Action

Billing Email Address

Optional

Type the email address to which Atlas should send billing alerts.

By default, Atlas sends billing alerts to the Organization Owners and Billing Admins.

  • If you leave the Billing Email Address blank, Atlas sends billing alerts to the Organization Owners and Billing Admins.

  • If you specify a billing email address and uncheck Only send invoice emails to the Billing Email Address, Atlas sends billing alerts to the billing email address, Organization Owners, and Billing Admins.

  • If you specify a billing email address and check the box for Only send invoice emails to the Billing Email Address, Atlas send billing alerts to the billing email address only.

Company Name

Optional

Type the name of the company for your billing address.

Country

Required

Select the country for your billing address. You can also start typing the name of the country and then select it from the filtered list of countries.

Street Address

Required

Type the street address for your billing address.

Apt/Suite/Floor

Optional

Type an the apartment, suite, or floor for your billing address.

City

Required

Type the name of the city for your billing address.

State/Province/Region

Required

Type or select the political subdivision in which your billing address exists. The label and field change depending on what you selected as your Country:

  • If you select United States as your Country, this label changes to State. The field changes to a dropdown menu of U.S. states. You can also start typing the name of the state and then select it from the filtered list of states.

  • If you select Canada as your Country, this label changes to Province. The field changes to a dropdown menu of Canadian provinces. You can also start typing the name of the province and then select it from the filtered list of provinces.

  • If you select any other country as your Country, this label changes to State/Province/Region. The field changes to a text box. Type the name of your province, state, or region in this box.

ZIP or Postal Code

Required

Type the ZIP (U.S.) or Postal Code (other countries) for your billing address.

VAT Number

Conditional

Atlas displays the VAT ID field if you select a country other than the United States.

To learn more about VAT, see VAT ID.

If your company's billing address is in a country other than the United States (USA), Atlas typically charges VAT if you do not enter a valid VAT ID Number on your billing profile.

IMPORTANT: If your billing address is in Ireland or certain Canadian provinces, Atlas always charges VAT, even with a valid VAT ID Number.

To learn more about VAT by region, see International Usage and Taxation.

12

Update your Payment Method details as needed.

  1. Click the radio button for Credit Card or Paypal.

    • If you selected Credit Card, type values for the following fields:

      Field
      Necessity
      Action

      Name on Card

      Required

      Type the name that appears on your credit card.

      Card Number

      Required

      Type the 16-digit number that appears on your credit card. American Express uses a 15-digit number.

      Expiration Date

      Required

      Type the expiration date for your credit card in the two-digit month and two-digit year format.

      CVC

      Required

      Type the three-digit number on the back of your credit card. American Express uses a 4-digit number found on the front of the credit card.

    • If you selected PayPal:

      1. Click Pay with PayPal.

      2. Complete the actions on the PayPal website.

All projects within your organization share the same billing settings, including payment method.

13

Review project's cost.

Under the Cart section, review the following:

Field
Description

Cluster Tier

Displays cost for your selected cluster tier and configuration details. To learn more, see Cloud Service Provider and Region and Cluster Tier.

Included Features

Displays features included with your selected cluster configuration.

Additional Settings

Displays additional settings that you enabled, such as cloud backups, sharding, BI Connector, and more. To learn more, see Cloud Backups.

14

Deploy your cluster. Click Confirm and Deploy Cluster below the form to deploy your cluster.

Important

Each Atlas project supports up to 25 clusters. Please contact Atlas support for questions or assistance regarding the cluster limit. To contact support:

  1. In Atlas, go to the Project Support page.

    Warning

    Navigation Improvements In Progress

    We're currently rolling out a new and improved navigation experience. If the following steps don't match your view in the Atlas UI, see the preview documentation.

    1. If it's not already displayed, select the organization that contains your desired project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.

    2. If it's not already displayed, select your desired project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.

    3. Next to the Projects menu, expand the Options menu, then click Project Support.

      The Project Support page displays.

  2. Request support.

15

Shard a global collection.

If you selected Atlas-Managed Sharding, you can use the Atlas UI to shard a collection for global writes. To learn more, see Shard a Global Collection.

If you selected Self-Managed Sharding, you must manually configure the shard key and shard the global collection. To learn more, see Shard Keys and Shard a Collection.

See also:

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