Compress Network Traffic

Overview

MongoDB drivers can compress the messages sent to and received from MongoDB Server. This reduces the amount of data transferred for each operation. Compression can improve performance over constrained networks and lower the data transfer costs associated with running MongoDB Atlas.

Compression operates at the wire protocol level, so it applies to every operation that your application performs. If you specify more than one algorithm, the driver uses the first algorithm in your list that MongoDB Server also supports.

Network Compression Benefits

MongoDB Atlas charges for data transferred across cloud regions, cloud providers, and between your infrastructure and MongoDB Atlas. Network compression reduces the amount of data that your application sends and receives, which can lower these data transfer costs. To learn more about pricing, see Data Transfer Costs.

Network compression also has productivity benefits. Compressed messages take less time to transfer across the network, which can improve your application's response times. Compression also reduces the bandwidth that your MongoDB traffic uses, which leaves more bandwidth available for other applications on the same network.

When you choose a compression algorithm, consider the following guidelines:

• Use Zstandard for a balance of compression efficiency and resource usage. Zstandard is a good default choice for most applications.

• Use Snappy for latency-sensitive applications that require minimal computational overhead.

• Use Zlib for broad compatibility across MongoDB drivers and environments.

Version Compatibility

The following table lists the minimum supported driver and MongoDB Server version for each compression algorithm:

Enable Network Compression

To enable network compression for your MongoDB connection, build the C driver with the required dependencies and specify the compression algorithms that you want to use.

client = mongoc_client_new("mongodb://<db_username>:<db_password>@<hostname>/?compressors=snappy,zlib,zstd");

uri = mongoc_uri_new("mongodb://localhost:27017");
mongoc_uri_set_compressors(uri, "snappy,zlib,zstd");
client = mongoc_client_new_from_uri(uri);

client = mongoc_client_new("mongodb://<db_username>:<db_password>@<hostname>/?compressors=zlib&zlibCompressionLevel=<zlib_compression_level");

uri = mongoc_uri_new("mongodb://localhost:27017");
mongoc_uri_set_option_as_int32(uri, MONGOC_URI_ZLIBCOMPRESSIONLEVEL, <zlib-compression-level>);
client = mongoc_client_new_from_uri(uri);

API Documentation

For more information about the types and functions used on this page, see the following API documentation:

• mongoc_uri_t

• mongoc_uri_set_compressors