Understanding FerretDB: An Introduction
FerretDB is an open-source database that acts as an alternative layer to MongoDB’s protocol, designed to translate MongoDB queries into SQL. This allows developers to leverage the extensive ecosystem of tools and applications built around MongoDB while using a different underlying database engine. This approach provides flexibility in choosing the backend database technology, potentially offering better performance, reliability, or cost-effectiveness.
How Does FerretDB Work?
At its core, FerretDB functions as a proxy that sits between MongoDB clients and a SQL database engine. When a MongoDB client sends a query, FerretDB intercepts it, translates it into SQL, and then executes it on the configured SQL database. Once the SQL database processes the query and returns the results, FerretDB translates these results back into the format expected by the MongoDB client.
This translation layer allows FerretDB to support various SQL databases, giving users the freedom to select a backend that meets their specific needs. Additionally, FerretDB maintains compatibility with MongoDB drivers, meaning developers can continue using their existing MongoDB tools without modification.
Benefits of Using FerretDB
- Flexibility in Database Choice: By supporting multiple SQL databases as backends, FerretDB enables organizations to choose a database that best aligns with their performance requirements, budget constraints, or existing infrastructure.
- Cost-Effectiveness: Some organizations might find SQL databases to be more cost-effective compared to MongoDB, especially when considering licensing fees or cloud hosting costs. FerretDB allows them to take advantage of these savings while still utilizing MongoDB’s features.
- Leverage Existing Ecosystems: FerretDB allows developers to continue using MongoDB’s rich ecosystem of tools, libraries, and applications. This means seamless integration with existing MongoDB-based solutions without the need for significant changes.
- Performance Optimization: Depending on the workload and queries, certain SQL databases might offer better performance characteristics than MongoDB. FerretDB can exploit these advantages by routing queries to a more suitable database engine.
- Open-Source and Community-Driven: Being open-source, FerretDB benefits from community contributions, allowing it to evolve and improve rapidly. This also ensures transparency and fosters innovation through collaborative efforts.
FerretDB support services
With the release of v2.0, we are also launching a suite of subscription and consulting services to support enterprises looking to adopt FerretDB at scale. These services offer expert guidance, dedicated support, and performance tuning to ensure you get the most out of your database setup.
If you’re migrating from MongoDB or seeking ways to extend your current workloads, our team is ready to assist you. For more information, check out our services page.
FerretDB Cloud: Managed FerretDB as a service
As part of the FerretDB 2.0 launch, we’re excited to introduce FerretDB Cloud, our fully managed database-as-a-service offering. With FerretDB Cloud, you can effortlessly deploy and scale FerretDB on AWS and GCP, with support for Microsoft Azure and additional cloud providers coming soon. It doesn’t matter if you are running production workloads or testing new applications, FerretDB Cloud will take care of the operational overhead, so you can focus on building your apps.
We invite you to join the waitlist for early access to FerretDB Cloud by signing up here. Stay tuned as we expand availability across more platforms in the near future!
Managed FerretDB will also be available on other providers as well, including Percona Ivee and Civo.
In conclusion,
FerretDB provides a versatile bridge between MongoDB’s client ecosystem and various SQL databases, offering developers the flexibility to choose the best-suited backend for their applications. Its ability to integrate seamlessly with existing MongoDB tools while offering potential cost and performance benefits makes it an attractive option for many organizations.