Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
What is MongoDB?
2.1.
Use Cases of MongoDB
3.
What is Elasticsearch?
3.1.
Use Cases of Elasticsearch
4.
MongoDB vs. Elasticsearch
5.
Frequently Asked Questions
5.1.
What is Mapping?
5.2.
What is a prefix query? 
5.3.
What is _id in Elasticsearch?
6.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024

MongoDB vs Elasticsearch

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Introduction

MongoDB is a database that allows data to be stored without the need for a pre-established model ("strict description") of the data. In practice, one can save information into MongoDB without having to spend time creating tables and other related structures. MongoDB is a powerful tool on its own, but when dealing with gigabytes of data containing multiple text fields and requiring simple graph logic, Elasticsearch excels in efficiently managing indexes and queries for such data types. In this article, we will explore the comparison between MongoDB and Elasticsearch.

MongoDB vs Elasticsearch

What is MongoDB?

Mongodb is a schema-less document-oriented database. The name MongoDB comes from “humongous.” The database is written in C++ and is intended to be scalable. The primary reason for moving away from the relational model is to make scaling easier. 

The fundamental idea is to replace the concept of a “row ” with a more flexible model; the “document.” By using embedded documents and arrays, this perspective makes it possible to represent complex hierarchical relationships with a single record. 

MongoDB is also schema-free, i.e., a document’s keys are not predefined or fixed. MongoDB provides high performance, operability, availability, and easy scalability. MongoDB works on the fundamental idea of collection and documentation.

Use Cases of MongoDB

  • Read Preference and Read Concern: With the help of read preferences and concerns, which MongoDB lets you set up, you can manage how and from which replicas your data is read. You may now have precise control over your read operations thanks to this.
     
  • Aggregation Framework: MongoDB's aggregation architecture has strong data processing capabilities, enabling intricate searches and aggregations. With the help of this tool, customers can quickly obtain specified information and carry out extensive data analysis.
     
  • Indexing: MongoDB offers single-field, compound, and multi-key indexes, among other indexes. Correct indexing greatly enhances read speed, enabling quicker query execution.
     
  • Flexible JSON-like Documents: MongoDB uses a BSON (Binary JSON)-based flexible document model that enables developers to store data in JSON-like documents. The data is easier to read and understand because of the simplicity of the schema design.

What is Elasticsearch?

Elasticsearch is a real-time distributed social analytics engine mainly designed to organize data in order to make it easily accessible. It is built as an open source, which is a full-text search engine. 

It is a distributed document store; it stores all objects as JSON documents. These documents are indexed by default and are schema-free, so we don’t have to define fields for data types before adding data. Indices in Elasticsearch can be considered as databases in Relational database management system. 

Using this similarity from the SQL world, indices are collections of JSON documents, and databases are collections of tables. It handles fault tolerance by redundantly copying the data and maintaining the high availability of data. 

It also provides the feature of multitenancy for querying multiple indices independently. Communication with Elasticsearch is done through HTTP REST API (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface).

Use Cases of Elasticsearch

  • Real-time Data Analysis: For applications that require real-time data analysis and insights, Elasticsearch is an excellent choice. It can ingest and index data rapidly, enabling users to access and read the most up-to-date information in near real-time
     
  • Scalability: Elasticsearch is built to expand horizontally, so as your data and query traffic increase, you may add additional nodes to the cluster. This scalability guarantees the system can retain good readability and responsiveness even as your dataset and user base grow
     
  • Custom Ranking and Relevance: Using scoring algorithms and boosting techniques, Elasticsearch enables you to tailor the ranking and relevancy of search results. Placing the most pertinent stuff first makes search results easier to read
     
  • Full-Text Search on Structured Data: Structured and unstructured text may be handled by Elasticsearch. This combines the advantages of text search and structured query capabilities, making it handy when doing full-text searches on fields within structured documents or databases

MongoDB vs. Elasticsearch

MongoDB 

Elasticsearch

A general-purpose NoSQL database, MongoDB, is appropriate for various use cases. 

It is frequently used for real-time analytics, content management systems, mobile apps, transactional applications, and any other situation that calls for dynamic and adaptable data structures.

Full-text search and analytics use cases are Elasticsearch's primary focus areas. 

It is frequently used to create applications for e-commerce platforms, log analysis, monitoring systems, and content-based websites that need quick and sophisticated search capabilities.

Data is also kept in MongoDB in BSON, binary JSON documents. 

It adheres to a flexible schema, it is simple to store heterogeneous data because each document in a collection can have a variety of fields.

It keeps information as JSON documents. The documents are arranged into indices, each representing a distinct entity.

Elasticsearch doesn't require you to explicitly define a schema before indexing data because it is schema-less.

Filtering, projection, sorting, and aggregation are all features of the robust querying language offered by MongoDB. 

Elasticsearch is more focused on text search than it is, despite offering some essential full-text search support.

Elasticsearch, as a search engine, offers robust full-text search capabilities right out of the box. 

Additionally, it supports geospatial searches, aggregations, complex queries, and more. When handling unstructured or partially structured data, it excels.

Through sharding, MongoDB also supports horizontal scalability. 

It can efficiently manage heavy read/write workloads and large amounts of data.

Its horizontal scalability makes it simple to distribute data among numerous nodes. 

It effectively manages large-scale deployments by using sharding to divide data.

Tunable consistency is a feature of MongoDB that lets you control when and how data is distributed among nodes. It is regarded as eventually consistent, which means that although data synchronization may occur with a slight delay across the entire cluster, data changes are propagated to all nodes.
MongoDB is a wise choice for projects with limited operational resources because it is typically simpler to set up and manage. It necessitates more upkeep and monitoring, particularly regarding data distribution, index optimization, and hardware resources.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Mapping?

The process of defining the type of the documents and assigning it to a particular index is called index mapping, mapping type, or just mapping. Proper type mapping is one of the most essential design exercises you would have to do to get the most out of Elasticsearch.

What is a prefix query? 

The prefix query is a low-level query that works at the term level. It doesn't analyze the query string before searching. It assumes that you have passed it the exact prefix that you want to find.

What is _id in Elasticsearch?

The ID is a string that, when combined with the index and type, uniquely identifies a document in Elasticsearch. When creating a new document, you can provide your own id or let Elasticsearch generate one.

Conclusion

In this article, we learn about MongoDB vs Elasticsearch. We also learn about MongoDB and also Elasticsearch. We concluded the article by discussing the definition, use cases, and comparison.

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