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Replication

Replica Set Data Synchronization

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  • Initial Sync
  • Replication

In order to maintain up-to-date copies of the shared data set, secondary members of a replica set sync or replicate data from other members. MongoDB uses two forms of data synchronization: initial sync to populate new members with the full data set, and replication to apply ongoing changes to the entire data set.

Initial Sync

Initial sync copies all the data from one member of the replica set to another member. See Initial Sync Source Selection for more information on initial sync source selection criteria.

The local database stores the oplog data that the initial sync process uses. Ensure the destination member has enough space in the local database to store the oplog data for the initial sync process to complete.

Note

During the initial sync, MongoDB truncates the oplog on the destination member. This oplog truncation can impact processes, such as change streams, that depend on oplog data.

You can specify the preferred initial sync source using the initialSyncSourceReadPreference parameter. This parameter can only be specified when starting the mongod.

Starting in MongoDB 5.2, initial syncs can be logical or file copy based.

Logical Initial Sync Process

When you perform a logical initial sync, MongoDB:

  1. Clones all databases except the local database. To clone, the mongod scans every collection in each source database and inserts all data into its own copies of these collections.

  2. Builds all collection indexes as the documents are copied for each collection.

  3. Pulls newly added oplog records during the data copy. Ensure that the target member has enough disk space in the local database to temporarily store these oplog records for the duration of this data copy stage.

  4. Applies all changes to the data set. Using the oplog from the source, the mongod updates its data set to reflect the current state of the replica set.

When the initial sync finishes, the member transitions from STARTUP2 to SECONDARY.

To perform an initial sync, see Resync a Member of a Self-Managed Replica Set.

File Copy Based Initial Sync

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

File copy based initial sync runs the initial sync process by copying and moving files on the file system. This sync method can be faster than logical initial sync.

Important

File copy based initial sync may cause inaccurate counts

After file copy based initial sync completes, if you run the count() method without a query predicate, the count of documents returned may be inaccurate.

A count method without a query predicate looks like this: db.<collection>.count().

To learn more, see Inaccurate Counts Without Query Predicate.

Enable File Copy Based Initial Sync

To enable file copy based initial sync, set the initialSyncMethod parameter to fileCopyBased on the destination member for the initial sync. This parameter can only be set at startup.

Behavior

File copy based initial sync replaces the local database of the target member with the local database of the source member when syncing.

Limitations

  • During a file copy based initial sync:

    • You cannot run a backup on the member that is being synced to or the member that is being synced from.

    • You cannot write to the local database on the member that is being synced to.

  • You can only run an initial sync from one given member at a time.

  • When using the encrypted storage engine, MongoDB uses the source key to encrypt the destination.

Initial Sync on NVMe Clusters

You must perform an initial sync on clusters that use the local Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) SSD storage option, including if you're using Atlas auto-scaling. Atlas NVMe clusters auto-scale to the next higher tier when 90% of the storage space is full. An initial sync takes longer to complete compared to subsequent syncs, and reduces the performance of the primary from which the data is read.

Fault Tolerance

If a secondary performing initial sync encounters a non-transient (i.e. persistent) network error during the sync process, the secondary restarts the initial sync process from the beginning.

A secondary performing initial sync can attempt to resume the sync process if interrupted by a transient (i.e. temporary) network error, collection drop, or collection rename.

By default, the secondary tries to resume initial sync for 24 hours. You can use the initialSyncTransientErrorRetryPeriodSeconds server parameter to control the amount of time the secondary attempts to resume initial sync. If the secondary cannot successfully resume the initial sync process during the configured time period, it selects a new healthy source from the replica set and restarts the initial synchronization process from the beginning.

The secondary attempts to restart the initial sync up to 10 times before returning a fatal error.

Initial Sync Source Selection

Initial sync source selection depends on the value of the mongod startup parameter initialSyncSourceReadPreference:

  • For initialSyncSourceReadPreference set to primary (default if chaining is disabled), select the primary as the sync source. If the primary is unavailable or unreachable, log an error and periodically check for primary availability.

  • For initialSyncSourceReadPreference set to primaryPreferred (default for voting replica set members), attempt to select the primary as the sync source. If the primary is unavailable or unreachable, perform sync source selection from the remaining replica set members.

  • For all other supported read modes, perform sync source selection from the replica set members.

Members performing initial sync source selection make two passes through the list of all replica set members:

The member applies the following criteria to each replica set member when making the first pass for selecting a initial sync source:

  • The sync source must be in the PRIMARY or SECONDARY replication state.

  • The sync source must be online and reachable.

  • If initialSyncSourceReadPreference is secondary or secondaryPreferred, the sync source must be a secondary.

  • The sync source must be visible.

  • The sync source must be within 30 seconds of the newest oplog entry on the primary.

  • If the member builds indexes, the sync source must build indexes.

  • If the member votes in replica set elections, the sync source must also vote.

  • If the member is not a delayed member, the sync source must not be delayed.

  • If the member is a delayed member, the sync source must have a shorter configured delay.

  • The sync source must be faster (i.e. lower latency) than the current best sync source.

If no candidate sync sources remain after the first pass, the member performs a second pass with relaxed criteria. See Sync Source Selection (Second Pass).

The member applies the following criteria to each replica set member when making the second pass for selecting a initial sync source:

If the member cannot select an initial sync source after two passes, it logs an error and waits 1 second before restarting the selection process. The secondary mongod can restart the initial sync source selection process up to 10 times before exiting with an error.

Oplog Window

The oplog window must be long enough so that a secondary can fetch any new oplog entries that occur between the start and end of the Logical Initial Sync Process. If the window isn't long enough, there is a risk that some entries may fall off the oplog before the secondary can apply them.

It is recommended that you size the oplog for additional time to fetch any new oplog entries. This allows for changes that may occur during initial syncs.

For more information, see Oplog Size.

Replication

Secondary members replicate data continuously after the initial sync. Secondary members copy the oplog from their sync from source and apply these operations in an asynchronous process. [1]

Secondaries may automatically change their sync from source as needed based on changes in the ping time and state of other members' replication. See Replication Sync Source Selection for more information on sync source selection criteria.

[1] Secondary members of a replica set now log oplog entries that take longer than the slow operation threshold to apply. These slow oplog messages:
  • Are logged for the secondaries in the diagnostic log.
  • Are logged under the REPL component with the text applied op: <oplog entry> took <num>ms.
  • Do not depend on the log levels (either at the system or component level)
  • Do not depend on the profiling level.
  • Are affected by slowOpSampleRate.
The profiler does not capture slow oplog entries.

Streaming Replication

Sync from sources send a continuous stream of oplog entries to their syncing secondaries. Streaming replication mitigates replication lag in high-load and high-latency networks. It also:

  • Reduces staleness for reads from secondaries.

  • Reduces risk of losing write operations with w: 1 due to primary failover.

  • Reduces latency on write operations with w: "majority" and w: >1 (that is, any write concern that requires waiting for replication).

Use the oplogFetcherUsesExhaust startup parameter to disable streaming replication and using the older replication behavior. Set the oplogFetcherUsesExhaust parameter to false only if there are any resource constraints on the sync from source or if you wish to limit MongoDB's usage of network bandwidth for replication.

Multithreaded Replication

MongoDB applies write operations in batches using multiple threads to improve concurrency. MongoDB groups batches by document ID (WiredTiger) and simultaneously applies each group of operations using a different thread. MongoDB always applies write operations to a given document in their original write order.

Read operations that target secondaries and are configured with a read concern level of "local" or "majority" read from a WiredTiger snapshot of the data if the read takes place on a secondary where replication batches are being applied.

Reading from a snapshot guarantees a consistent view of the data, and allows the read to occur simultaneously with the ongoing replication without the need for a lock. As a result, secondary reads requiring these read concern levels no longer need to wait for replication batches to be applied, and can be handled as they are received.

Flow Control

Starting in MongoDB 4.2, administrators can limit the rate at which the primary applies its writes with the goal of keeping the majority committed lag under a configurable maximum value flowControlTargetLagSeconds.

By default, flow control is enabled.

Note

For flow control to engage, the replica set/sharded cluster must have: featureCompatibilityVersion (fCV) of 4.2 and read concern majority enabled. That is, enabled flow control has no effect if fCV is not 4.2 or if read concern majority is disabled.

For more information, see Flow Control.

Replication Sync Source Selection

Replication sync source selection depends on the replica set chaining setting:

  • With chaining enabled (default), perform sync source selection from the replica set members.

  • With chaining disabled, select the primary as the sync source. If the primary is unavailable or unreachable, log an error and periodically check for primary availability.

Members performing replication sync source selection make two passes through the list of all replica set members:

The member applies the following criteria to each replica set member when making the first pass for selecting a replication sync source:

  • The sync source must be in the PRIMARY or SECONDARY replication state.

  • The sync source must be online and reachable.

  • The sync source must have newer oplog entries than the member (i.e. the sync source is ahead of the member).

  • The sync source must be visible.

  • The sync source must be within 30 seconds of the newest oplog entry on the primary.

  • If the member builds indexes, the sync source must build indexes.

  • If the member votes in replica set elections, the sync source must also vote.

  • If the member is not a delayed member, the sync source must not be delayed.

  • If the member is a delayed member, the sync source must have a shorter configured delay.

  • The sync source must be faster (i.e. lower latency) than the current best sync source.

If no candidate sync sources remain after the first pass, the member performs a second pass with relaxed criteria. See the Sync Source Selection (Second Pass).

The member applies the following criteria to each replica set member when making the second pass for selecting a replication sync source:

  • The sync source must be in the PRIMARY or SECONDARY replication state.

  • The sync source must be online and reachable.

  • If the member builds indexes, the sync source must build indexes.

  • The sync source must be faster (i.e. lower latency) than the current best sync source.

If the member cannot select a sync source after two passes, it logs an error and waits 1 second before restarting the selection process.

The number of times a source can be changed per hour is configurable by setting the maxNumSyncSourceChangesPerHour parameter.

Note

The startup parameter initialSyncSourceReadPreference takes precedence over the replica set's settings.chainingAllowed setting when selecting an initial sync source. After a replica set member successfully performs initial sync, it defers to the value of chainingAllowed when selecting a replication sync source.

See Initial Sync Source Selection for more information on initial sync source selection.

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