Using Journaling for Write Concern in MongoDB
Journaling is a mechanism in MongoDB that helps ensure data durability by writing changes to a journal file before applying them to the actual database files. This protects against unexpected crashes and power failures.
How Journaling Works
MongoDB writes operations to an in-memory buffer.
These operations are then written to a journal file before they are applied to the actual database storage.
If MongoDB crashes before committing changes to disk, the journal file is used to recover the data on restart.
Configuring Write Concern with Journaling
Write concern in MongoDB specifies the level of acknowledgment required for write operations. You can configure it to use journaling for durability.
1. Using j: true in Write Concern
You can explicitly enable journaling in write operations by setting { j: true } in the write concern.
Example: Ensuring Data is Written to the Journal
db.users.insertOne(
{ name: "Ram", age: 23 },
{ writeConcern: { j: true } }
)
2. Using Journaling in w and j Together
You can combine replication (w) and journaling (j) to increase reliability.
Example: Write Acknowledged After Journal and One Replica Confirmation
db.orders.insertOne(
{ item: "Laptop", price: 1000 },
{ writeConcern: { w: 2, j: true } }
)
3. Enabling Journaling at Server Level
By default, journaling is enabled in MongoDB when running with the WiredTiger storage engine.
To check if journaling is enabled, run:
db.serverStatus().storageEngine
It should return:
{
"name": "wiredTiger",
"supportsCommittedReads": true,
"persistent": true
}