MongoDB Index Tuning and Dex

One of the first things when your system is rolled into production (or better when you have your acceptance tests) is checking the system performance performance and tune it.
When we talk about databases, we usually talk about index tuning, and MongoDB is not different.

How to Detect the Slow Queries?
First enable you MongoDB slow queries log. It's easy, just run db.setProfilingLevel(1, 1) from the command line. 

How to Analyze the Slow Queries?
Well, you can use the built in queries (after all the profiling is saved at a MongoDB collection). However, Dex, a new tool from MongoLab, can help you shorten the time to index...
It's a Python based product that can be easily installed and run and provides a list of recommended indexes based on MongoLab best practices.

How to Install and Run?

1. Install python: yum -y install python
2. Install pip
3. Install Dex using pip: pip install dex
4. Create a log file: touch mongodb.log
5. Run it: sudo dex -p -v -f mongodb.log mongodb://user:password@serverDNS:serverPort/database. Don't forget to use the various flags to get errors in case of wrong configuration.

Should We Just Copy and Paste the New Indexes?
As you may know every added index results in a performance degragation when INSERT, DELETE and UPDATE statement are performed. Therefore, we should carefuly select the indexes to be added:

1. We should check that the new indexes do not overlap existing indexes. If there is an overlap, we should remove/unify the indexes definitions (use the .db.collection.getIndexes() method to retrieve the data.
2. We should check that the queries are frequently used in order to avoid saving few seconds once a month while doing a SELECT, and pay for that at peak times INSERTs.

Bottom Line
MongoDB queries tuning is easier than ever: Just Tune It!

Keep Performing,
Moshe Kaplan