Create a Cluster
On this page
Use these resources to choose and create clusters and serverless instances.
Choose a Cluster Type
MongoDB Atlas can deploy two types of cloud databases: serverless instances and clusters. You can use both clusters and serverless instances in the same Atlas project.
You can also create a local Atlas deployment with the Atlas CLI.
Clusters
Create a cluster if you want to:
Choose a specific database configuration based on your workload requirements.
Define database scaling behavior.
Run high-throughput production workloads.
Always have capacity available.
You can:
Set the cluster tier.
Use advanced capabilities such as sharding.
Distribute your data to multiple regions and cloud providers.
Scale your cluster on-demand.
Enable autoscaling. Unlike serverless instances, autoscaling for clusters requires preconfiguration.
MongoDB bills clusters based on the deployment configuration and cluster tier.
Serverless Instances
Create a serverless instance if you want to:
Get started quickly with minimal database configuration.
Have your database scale automatically and dynamically to meet your workload.
Run infrequent or sparse workloads.
Develop or test in a cloud environment.
Atlas automatically scales the storage capacity, storage throughput, and computing power for a serverless instance seamlessly to meet your workload requirements. Serverless instances always run the latest MongoDB version, and you only pay for the operations that you run.
Global Clusters
Create a global cluster if you want to support location-aware read and write operations. Location-aware read and write operations are ideal for globally-distributed application instances and clients.
Global Clusters are a highly-curated implementation of a sharded cluster that offer:
Low-latency read and write operations for globally distributed clients.
Uptime protection during partial or full regional outages.
Location-aware data storage in specific geographic regions.
Workload isolation based on cluster member types.
You can enable Global Writes in Atlas when deploying an M30 or
greater sharded cluster. For replica sets,
scale the cluster to at least an M30
tier and enable Global Writes. All shard nodes deploy with the
selected cluster.
Important
You can't disable Global Writes for a cluster once it is deployed.
Local Deployments
Create a local deployment to try Atlas features on a single-node replica set hosted on your local computer.
Feature Support and Comparison
The following table indicates whether clusters or serverless instances support the listed configuration or capability in MongoDB Atlas.
Note
MongoDB plans to add support for more configurations and capabilities on serverless instances over time. To see the current serverless instance limitations and learn about planned support, see Serverless Instance Limitations.
For the latest product updates, see the Atlas Changelog.
Configurations
Configuration | Clusters | Serverless instances |
|---|---|---|
AWS regions | ||
Google Cloud regions | ||
Microsoft Azure regions | ||
Multi-region deployments | ||
Multi-cloud deployments | ||
Sharded deployments | ||
Advanced enterprise security features (including
LDAP
and database auditing) |
Capabilities
Capability | Clusters | Serverless instances |
|---|---|---|
Use the Atlas API | ||
Monitor metrics | ||
Configure alerts on available metrics or billing | ||
Configure backups | ||
Perform
point-in-time or automated restores
from backup snapshots | ||
Use the Atlas UI (Find, Indexes, Schema
Advisor and Aggregation Pipeline Builder) | ||
Get on-demand index and schema
suggestions | ||
Use triggers | ||
Use Atlas Search | ||
Use Online Archive | ||
Use BI Connector | ||
Use MongoDB Charts | ||
Important
You can’t migrate into clusters from serverless instances.
For a full list of serverless instance limitations, see Serverless Instance Limitations.
Take the Next Steps
Once you select a cluster type, you can:
Create a Cloud Deployment
To create a cloud deployment, use the following resources:
Create a Local Deployment with the Atlas CLI
To create a local or cloud Atlas deployment using the Atlas CLI, run the following command:
atlas deployments setup [deploymentName] [options]
To learn more about the command syntax and parameters, see the Atlas CLI documentation for atlas deployments setup.
For step-by-step instructions on using this command, see Create a Local Deployment.