[node.js] How do I manage MongoDB connections in a Node.js web application?

I'm using the node-mongodb-native driver with MongoDB to write a website.

I have some questions about how to manage connections:

1. Is it enough using only one MongoDB connection for all requests? Are there any performance issues? If not, can I setup a global connection to use in the whole application?

2. If not, is it good if I open a new connection when request arrives, and close it when handled the request? Is it expensive to open and close a connection?

3. Should I use a global connection pool? I hear the driver has a native connection pool. Is it a good choice?

4. If I use a connection pool, how many connections should be used?

5. Are there other things I should notice?

Open a new connection when the Node.js application starts, and reuse the existing db connection object:

/server.js

import express from 'express';
import Promise from 'bluebird';
import logger from 'winston';
import { MongoClient } from 'mongodb';
import config from './config';
import usersRestApi from './api/users';

const app = express();

app.use('/api/users', usersRestApi);

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.send('Hello World');
});

// Create a MongoDB connection pool and start the application
// after the database connection is ready
MongoClient.connect(config.database.url, { promiseLibrary: Promise }, (err, db) => {
  if (err) {
    logger.warn(`Failed to connect to the database. ${err.stack}`);
  }
  app.locals.db = db;
  app.listen(config.port, () => {
    logger.info(`Node.js app is listening at http://localhost:${config.port}`);
  });
});

/api/users.js

import { Router } from 'express';
import { ObjectID } from 'mongodb';

const router = new Router();

router.get('/:id', async (req, res, next) => {
  try {
    const db = req.app.locals.db;
    const id = new ObjectID(req.params.id);
    const user = await db.collection('user').findOne({ _id: id }, {
      email: 1,
      firstName: 1,
      lastName: 1
    });

    if (user) {
      user.id = req.params.id;
      res.send(user);
    } else {
      res.sendStatus(404);
    }
  } catch (err) {
    next(err);
  }
});

export default router;

Source: How to Open Database Connections in a Node.js/Express App

Here is some code that will manage your MongoDB connections.

var MongoClient = require('mongodb').MongoClient;
var url = require("../config.json")["MongoDBURL"]

var option = {
  db:{
    numberOfRetries : 5
  },
  server: {
    auto_reconnect: true,
    poolSize : 40,
    socketOptions: {
        connectTimeoutMS: 500
    }
  },
  replSet: {},
  mongos: {}
};

function MongoPool(){}

var p_db;

function initPool(cb){
  MongoClient.connect(url, option, function(err, db) {
    if (err) throw err;

    p_db = db;
    if(cb && typeof(cb) == 'function')
        cb(p_db);
  });
  return MongoPool;
}

MongoPool.initPool = initPool;

function getInstance(cb){
  if(!p_db){
    initPool(cb)
  }
  else{
    if(cb && typeof(cb) == 'function')
      cb(p_db);
  }
}
MongoPool.getInstance = getInstance;

module.exports = MongoPool;

When you start the server, call initPool

require("mongo-pool").initPool();

Then in any other module you can do the following:

var MongoPool = require("mongo-pool");
MongoPool.getInstance(function (db){
    // Query your MongoDB database.
});

This is based on MongoDB documentation. Take a look at it.

Manage mongo connection pools in a single self contained module. This approach provides two benefits. Firstly it keeps your code modular and easier to test. Secondly your not forced to mix your database connection up in your request object which is NOT the place for a database connection object. (Given the nature of JavaScript I would consider it highly dangerous to mix in anything to an object constructed by library code). So with that you only need to Consider a module that exports two methods. connect = () => Promise and get = () => dbConnectionObject.

With such a module you can firstly connect to the database

// runs in boot.js or what ever file your application starts with
const db = require('./myAwesomeDbModule');
db.connect()
    .then(() => console.log('database connected'))
    .then(() => bootMyApplication())
    .catch((e) => {
        console.error(e);
        // Always hard exit on a database connection error
        process.exit(1);
    });

When in flight your app can simply call get() when it needs a DB connection.

const db = require('./myAwesomeDbModule');
db.get().find(...)... // I have excluded code here to keep the example  simple

If you set up your db module in the same way as the following not only will you have a way to ensure that your application will not boot unless you have a database connection you also have a global way of accessing your database connection pool that will error if you have not got a connection.

// myAwesomeDbModule.js
let connection = null;

module.exports.connect = () => new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    MongoClient.connect(url, option, function(err, db) {
        if (err) { reject(err); return; };
        resolve(db);
        connection = db;
    });
});

module.exports.get = () => {
    if(!connection) {
        throw new Error('Call connect first!');
    }

    return connection;
}

If you have Express.js, you can use express-mongo-db for caching and sharing the MongoDB connection between requests without a pool (since the accepted answer says it is the right way to share the connection).

If not - you can look at its source code and use it in another framework.

You should create a connection as service then reuse it when need.

// db.service.js
import { MongoClient } from "mongodb";
import database from "../config/database";

const dbService = {
  db: undefined,
  connect: callback => {
    MongoClient.connect(database.uri, function(err, data) {
      if (err) {
        MongoClient.close();
        callback(err);
      }
      dbService.db = data;
      console.log("Connected to database");
      callback(null);
    });
  }
};

export default dbService;

my App.js sample

// App Start
dbService.connect(err => {
  if (err) {
    console.log("Error: ", err);
    process.exit(1);
  }

  server.listen(config.port, () => {
    console.log(`Api runnning at ${config.port}`);
  });
});

and use it wherever you want with

import dbService from "db.service.js"
const db = dbService.db

I have been using generic-pool with redis connections in my app - I highly recommend it. Its generic and I definitely know it works with mysql so I don't think you'll have any problems with it and mongo

https://github.com/coopernurse/node-pool

I have implemented below code in my project to implement connection pooling in my code so it will create a minimum connection in my project and reuse available connection

/* Mongo.js*/

var MongoClient = require('mongodb').MongoClient;
var url = "mongodb://localhost:27017/yourdatabasename"; 
var assert = require('assert');

var connection=[];
// Create the database connection
establishConnection = function(callback){

                MongoClient.connect(url, { poolSize: 10 },function(err, db) {
                    assert.equal(null, err);

                        connection = db
                        if(typeof callback === 'function' && callback())
                            callback(connection)

                    }

                )



}

function getconnection(){
    return connection
}

module.exports = {

    establishConnection:establishConnection,
    getconnection:getconnection
}

/*app.js*/
// establish one connection with all other routes will use.
var db = require('./routes/mongo')

db.establishConnection();

//you can also call with callback if you wanna create any collection at starting
/*
db.establishConnection(function(conn){
  conn.createCollection("collectionName", function(err, res) {
    if (err) throw err;
    console.log("Collection created!");
  });
};
*/

// anyother route.js

var db = require('./mongo')

router.get('/', function(req, res, next) {
    var connection = db.getconnection()
    res.send("Hello");

});

Best approach to implement connection pooling is you should create one global array variable which hold db name with connection object returned by MongoClient and then reuse that connection whenever you need to contact Database.

1. In your Server.js define var global.dbconnections = [];

2. Create a Service naming connectionService.js. It will have 2 methods getConnection and createConnection. So when user will call getConnection(), it will find detail in global connection variable and return connection details if already exists else it will call createConnection() and return connection Details.

3. Call this service using db_name and it will return connection object if it already have else it will create new connection and return it to you.

Hope it helps :)

Here is the connectionService.js code:

var mongo = require('mongoskin');
var mongodb = require('mongodb');
var Q = require('q');
var service = {};
service.getConnection = getConnection ;
module.exports = service;

function getConnection(appDB){
    var deferred = Q.defer();
    var connectionDetails=global.dbconnections.find(item=>item.appDB==appDB)

    if(connectionDetails){deferred.resolve(connectionDetails.connection);
    }else{createConnection(appDB).then(function(connectionDetails){
            deferred.resolve(connectionDetails);})
    }
    return deferred.promise;
}

function createConnection(appDB){
    var deferred = Q.defer();
    mongodb.MongoClient.connect(connectionServer + appDB, (err,database)=> 
    {
        if(err) deferred.reject(err.name + ': ' + err.message);
        global.dbconnections.push({appDB: appDB,  connection: database});
        deferred.resolve(database);
    })
     return deferred.promise;
} 

If using express there is another more straightforward method, which is to utilise Express's built in feature to share data between routes and modules within your app. There is an object called app.locals. We can attach properties to it and access it from inside our routes. To use it, instantiate your mongo connection in your app.js file.

var app = express();

MongoClient.connect('mongodb://localhost:27017/')
.then(client =>{
  const db = client.db('your-db');
  const collection = db.collection('your-collection');
  app.locals.collection = collection;
});
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              // view engine setup
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, 'views'));

This database connection, or indeed any other data you wish to share around the modules of you app can now be accessed within your routes with req.app.locals as below without the need for creating and requiring additional modules.

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  const collection = req.app.locals.collection;
  collection.find({}).toArray()
  .then(response => res.status(200).json(response))
  .catch(error => console.error(error));
});

This method ensures that you have a database connection open for the duration of your app unless you choose to close it at any time. It's easily accessible with req.app.locals.your-collection and doesn't require creation of any additional modules.

mongodb.com -> new project -> new cluster -> new collection -> connect -> IP address: 0.0.0.0/0 & db cred -> connect your application -> copy connection string and paste in .env file of your node app and make sure to replace "" with the actual password for the user and also replace "/test" with your db name

create new file .env

CONNECTIONSTRING=x --> const client = new MongoClient(CONNECTIONSTRING) 
PORT=8080 
JWTSECRET=mysuper456secret123phrase