MongoDB Data API and HTTPS Endpoints Deprecation: Exploring Your Options
Sep 17th, 2024|
MongoDB recently announced the upcoming deprecation of Atlas Data API and HTTPS Endpoints. This article briefly reviews the Atlas Data API & HTTPS Endpoints functionality, customer impact, and some of the options available to MongoDB customers currently using or assessing these features.
Data API & HTTPS Endpoints deprecation
MongoDB’s Data API & HTTPS Endpoints are fully-managed, external middleware services that enable HTTPS interactions with a database, instead of through a driver. The key components of these offerings include:
- A fully-managed middleware service
- HTTPS-based connectivity
- JWT/secret-based authentication
- API-based operations
Depending on the use case, lightweight, HTTPS-based connectivity can have a number of advantages over leveraging a driver:
- Removing the CPU, memory and loading time of a driver
- Scaling without concern for database connection limitations, including connection or session pools
- Reducing the complexity or latency imposed by a middleware or proxy service
- Stateless authentication & authorization that can be applied to independent operations
The deprecation of the Data API and HTTPS Endpoints will impact various application architectures that rely on these specific benefits.
Common HTTPS-driven application architectures
Some of the common application architectures that benefit from driverless, HTTPS-based communication include:
- Serverlessor edge applications: HTTPS eliminates the need for persistent connections, crucial for efficient, on-demand execution.
- Event-driven or ephemeral functions: HTTPS communication supports the transient nature of ephemeral functions like Cloudflare Workers, Fastly Compute@Edge, and AWS Lambda by eliminating long-lived connections, session pool management, and the CPU/memory load of a driver.
- Web, mobile or 2-tier applications: HTTPS provides secure, reliable, and scalable communication between clients and servers without the need for additional middleware.
- Stateless, real-time security, zero trust or federated API infrastructures: HTTPS offers secure and encrypted interactions without any session management. It also integrates well with zero trust and federated APIs by ensuring that all communication is securely encrypted, aligning with modern security principles.
- Non-supported environments: HTTPS allows interactions with databases from environments where traditional drivers or SDKs are unavailable.
MongoDB suggested replacement options
For those customers building an application that mandates or benefits from lightweight HTTPS communication, MongoDB offered several options for migrating away from their Data API service:
- Move to a MongoDB driver: This approach involves reverting to MongoDB's native drivers for database interactions. The primary advantage of this method is that it keeps all components within the MongoDB ecosystem, ensuring compatibility and support. However, this option might not align well with existing architectures that were designed to leverage the Data API's connectivity method. Many users adopted the Data API due to its unique benefits, so returning to drivers might not fully address their previous requirements or value.
- Build your own API service: Another option is to develop a custom API service or a set of ephemeral, event-driven functions. This approach offers the flexibility to design and tailor the middleware to fit specific needs, providing a bespoke solution. However, building and maintaining this new proxy service comes with its own set of challenges, including additional costs and the need for ongoing maintenance. This option likely requires significant development effort and resources to ensure reliability and performance.
- Move to a third-party partner for middleware/API services: Transitioning to a third-party provider for similar middleware or API services can be a viable alternative. This option preserves a similar approach to the Data API, potentially minimizing disruptions. However, it introduces new costs. Additionally, this choice brings a new vendor and integration requirement, which could introduce extra latency, as the third-party service may not be hosted as locally as MongoDB’s original middleware. For new applications, this option may present challenges, particularly if the Data API's auto-generated API was a significant factor in the application's architecture.
Each of these options presents its own set of challenges, and the best choice will depend on individual use cases and requirements.
Fauna’s Solution
Fauna is a fully serverless, document-relational database that is natively accessed as an HTTPS API. Migrating to or starting a project with Fauna allows development teams to replicate the core benefits of MongoDB's HTTPS Data API (as a native solution and not a blot-on) while upgrading to a more scalable, high-performance, and cost-effective solution.
Replicate and Enhance Connectivity with Native HTTPS: Fauna natively supports HTTPS-based, two-tier communication, allowing for seamless driverless interactions with its endpoints. This setup eliminates the need for separate middleware by incorporating modern connectivity and authentication natively within the Fauna database, rather than relying on an external service. The stateless, per-operation authorization and API-based operations enable precise control over each interaction, encapsulating logic, authentication, and authorization within the HTTP request itself.
Support High Concurrency and Low Latency: By eliminating the need for middleware, Fauna improves performance and scalability, reducing complexity and associated costs. With native HTTPS connectivity, Fauna streamlines the architecture, removing third-party vendors and minimizing the need for additional maintenance efforts
Elevate Your Database Architecture: Fauna’s document-relational model extends the capabilities of traditional schemaless document databases by natively offering powerful relational features including joins, strong consistency, and schema enforcement. As a result, Fauna not only supports existing document operations but also enhances data modeling and querying functionality.
Meanwhile, its fully serverless delivery model means all database operations are eliminated, including sharding, provisioning, and capacity planning. Fauna allows development teams to focus on differentiated feature development, instead of manual database operations and scaling.
Free migration services & getting started with Fauna
Re-platforming a database is a significant undertaking, and we understand the challenges involved in transitioning to a new system. To ease this process, Fauna is offering pro-bono engineering resources for qualified customers to assist with MongoDB Atlas migrations, helping ensure a smooth transition. We are here to support your team every step of the way.
To learn more about how Fauna can enhance your database experience, we invite you to schedule a demo or conversation with our experts and explore the Fauna docs to learn more.
If you enjoyed our blog, and want to work on systems and challenges related to globally distributed systems, and serverless databases, Fauna is hiring
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