Self-Hosting MongoDB on Google Compute Engine

There are tradeoffs involved in deciding whether or not to self-host a database or to leverage a database as a service offering. How much control do you need over the database? Do you have the bandwidth and expertise to deal with self-hosting? These are just a few of the questions to consider.

This lab walks you through the process of getting MongoDB up and running on an instance and deploying a MongoDB replica set. Considerations for production workloads are discussed at each phase. The lab also discusses how to leverage Compute Engine's snapshot functionality as part of a sound disaster recovery plan.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this intermediate-level lab, you will be able to:

• Understand the benefits of multiple zone database deployments
• Install MongoDB on Linux machines
• Configure and deploy a MongoDB replica set
• Understand available options for backing up MongoDB data
• Create Google Compute Engine persistent disk snapshots

Intended Audience

• Cloud Engineers
• Database Administrators
• Anyone interested in self-hosting databases, particularly MongoDB

Prerequisites

Familiarity with the following will be beneficial but is not required:

• Working with Linux at the command line
• MongoDB fundamentals

The following content can help to fulfill the prerequisite:

• Linux Command Line Byte Session

Updates

May 22nd, 2025 - Updated lab environment and screenshots to reflect the latest console UI

June 5th, 2024 - Updated lab to use MongoDB 7.0

May 27th, 2022 - Added instructions to improve clarity