Glossary¶

agent

One of several lightweight programs that run within your network to monitor, manage, and back up your MongoDB databases.

See Automation Agent, Monitoring Agent and Backup Agent.

agent API key

A unique identifier that authenticates a group’s agents to Ops Manager. Each group has one agent API key.

Ops Manager Application

The main Ops Manager component. The Ops Manager Application provides the user interface for managing MongoDB deployments and provides endpoints for Ops Manager agents to transmit data.

See Ops Manager Application.

Ops Manager Application Database

The dedicated MongoDB database that stores metadata for the Ops Manager installation and the managed MongoDB deployments.

See Ops Manager Application Database.

automation

The assisted management of MongoDB processes through the Ops Manager interface. Automation Agents installed on your MongoDB servers allow you to deploy, configure, and update MongoDB processes directly from Ops Manager.

See Automation.

Automation Agent

A lightweight component that automates common management tasks. The Automation Agent runs on every server that will have a mongod or mongos.

See Automation Agent.

Backup Agent

A lightweight component that runs within your data center and backs up MongoDB processes via the MongoDB wire protocol. No direct file system access is needed.

See Backup Agent.

Backup Blockstore Database

The database that stores your snapshots. The database is also referred to simply as the blockstore. The blockstore uses a storage format that parses a snapshot into smaller chunks that allow Ops Manager to manage snapshot changes incrementally. You can administer blockstores from the Snapshot Storage Page. The blockstore is one type of Backup Database.

Backup Daemon

The Ops Manager component that creates and manages backups by maintaining head databases and snapshots.

See Backup Daemon Service.

Backup Database

The set of databases where Ops Manager stores backup data. This includes the Oplog Store Database and includes the Backup Blockstore Database if used.

See Backup Data Storage and Backup Flows.

backup job

A process run by the Backup Daemon to apply the most recent changes to its backup of a replica set. The daemon stores backups locally as head databases. A sharded cluster will have a different head database for each shard. You can re-assign backup jobs among Backup Daemons.

See Jobs Page.

blockstore

See Backup Blockstore Database.

checkpoint

A point in time between snapshots to which you can restore a sharded cluster. Ops Manager must stop the balancer each time it creates a checkpoint. Ops Manager does not require checkpoints, and they are disabled by default.

See Checkpoints.

cluster

In Ops Manager, cluster can refer to either a replica set or sharded cluster.

custom snapshot

A backup of the state of your MongoDB deployment at a point in time between stored snapshots. Ops Manager builds a custom snapshot by applying oplog data to a stored snapshot.

See Restore Overview.

deployment

Deployment usually refers to all the MongoDB processes that run within an Ops Manager group. Deployment can also refer to a specific set of MongoDB processes, such as a specific sharded cluster or replica set.

excluded namespace

A database or collection that Ops Manager will not back up, as designated by its namespace.

See Namespaces Filter.

File System Store

A directory on a server that stores your database backup snapshots as files. You can administer file system storage from the Snapshot Storage Page.

groom

A job that removes unused blocks on a blockstore and that can move blocks from one blockstore to another. You can view and manage grooms from Grooms Page and Groom Priority.

group

A distinct set of MongoDB processes and Ops Manager users. Each Ops Manager group must have a globally unique name within Ops Manager.

See Create a Group.

head

See head database.

head database

The copy of a backed-up deployment stored on the Backup Daemon’s server. The daemon maintains a head database for each shard or replica set it backs up and creates periodic snapshots. The daemon stores the head databases in the head directory.

head directory

The dedicated disk partition on the Backup Daemon’s server where the Backup Daemon stores the head databases. The daemon writes to this directory as the mongodb-mms user.

See rootDirectory.

HTTP Service

The interface through which the Monitoring Agent communicates with Ops Manager.

See Ops Manager Application.

initial sync

The MongoDB operation that replicates data from an existing replica set member to a new member. Ops Manager uses initial sync when creating a new head database.

See Initial Sync.

See also Replica Set Data Synchronization in the MongoDB manual.

job

See backup job.

monitoring

The real-time reporting, visualization, and alerting of the state of your MongoDB processes. See Monitoring.

Monitoring Agent

A lightweight component that runs within your data center and monitors your MongoDB processes via the MongoDB wire protocol. No direct file system access is needed. See Monitoring Agent.

namespace

The combination of the database name and collection name:

[database-name].[collection-name]

oplog slice

A compressed batch of entries for the tailed oplog of a backed-up shard or replica set. The Backup Agent creates an oplog slice and sends it to the HTTP Service, which stores it in the Oplog Store Database.

The Backup Daemon retrieves the slice and applies it to the associated head database.

See Oplog Stores Page.

Oplog Store Database

The database where Ops Manager stores oplog slices before applying them to a deployment’s backup.

See Oplog Stores Page.

ping

A data transmission sent by the Monitoring Agent to Ops Manager to confirm that the agent and its MongoDB processes are running and reachable.

point-in-time restore

A database restoration that captures the state of your data at a moment in-between snapshots. Point-in-time restores take longer to perform than snapshot restores.

See Restore Overview.

process

An instance of MongoDB running on a given host and port. The MongoDB database process is mongod. MongoDB also uses the mongos process to route operations in the sharded clusters.

See MongoDB Package Components in the MongoDB manual.

Public API key

A unique identifier that authenticates an Ops Manager user through the Public API. The key belongs to the user, as opposed to the agent API key, which belongs to the group.

See Enable the Public API.

role

The access given to an Ops Manager or MongoDB user.

For descriptions of Ops Manager user roles, see Ops Manager Roles.
For descriptions of MongoDB user roles, see Built-in Roles in the MongoDB manual.

server

A physical or virtual machine that hosts one or more MongoDB processes.

snapshot

A backup of your data captured at a specific interval and stored in either a blockstore or a file system. Ops Manager creates snapshots from the backups kept on the head databases. The Snapshot Frequency and Retention Policy determines the interval for taking snapshots and how long to store them.