A novel clustered MongoDB-based storage system for unstructured data with high availability

Abstract

More and more unstructured data are produced and consumed over network. How to maintain these data and improve the availability and scalability of the storage systems has become a considerable challenge. Although some NoSQL systems such as Dynamo, Cassandra, MongoDB have provided different advantages for unstructured data management, no one can provide flexible query functions like MongoDB, meanwhile guarantee the availability and scalability as Cassandra simultaneously. This paper presents a new high available distributed storage system called MyStore based on an optimized clustered MongoDB for unstructured data. Consistent hash is used to distribute data on multiple MongoDB nodes by applying virtual node method. NWR mode is applied to provide automatic backup operation and guarantee data consistency. And a gossip protocol is taken for exchanging information of failures in the system. Moreover, a user-friendly interface module and an efficient cache module are designed for improving the usability of the system. Based on above strategies, the system can realize high availability for unstructured data storage, while providing complex query functions like rational databases. Moreover, it is applied in a multi-discipline virtual experiment platform named VeePalms that has run practically. Experimental evaluation shows that the methodology is powerful enough not only to enhance the data availability, but also to improve the server's scalability.