What is Apache CouchDB?

Apache CouchDB server is a database that completely embraces the web. It stores your data with JSON documents, access your documents with your web browser via HTTP, query, combine and transform your documents with JavaScript. CouchDB is otherwise known as NoSQL solutions. Specifically, CouchDB is a document-oriented database and within each document fields are stored as key-value maps. Fields can be either a simple key/value pair, list, or map.

Each document that is stored in the database is given a document-level unique identifier as well as a revision number for each change that is made and saved to the database. NoSQL databases represent a shift away from traditional relational databases and can offer many benefits (and their own challenges) as well. CouchDB offers us these features:

  • Easy replication of a database across multiple server instances
  • Fast indexing and retrieval
  • REST-like interface for document insertion, updates, retrieval and deletion
  • JSON-based document format (easily translatable across different languages)
  • Multiple libraries for your language of choice (show some of the popular language choices)

CouchDB works well with modern web and mobile applications. You can distribute your data, efficiently using CouchDB’s incremental replication. CouchDB supports master-master setups with automatic conflict detection.

Why Monitor Apache CouchDB?

In mission critical environments, even the slightest of deficiencies in the performance of the Apache CouchDB server if not detected promptly and resolved quickly, can result in irredeemable loss of critical data. To avoid such data loss and to ensure availability of data round the clock, the Apache CouchDB server should be monitored periodically. For this purpose, eG Enterprise offers a specialized Apache CouchDB server monitoring model.

By closely monitoring the target Apache CouchDB server, administrators can be proactively alerted to issues in the overall performance and critical operations of the server, identify serious issues and plug the holes before any data loss occurs.