Couchbase Capella - Database-as-a-Service (Recommended)

We use the platform to transfer product pricing, discounts, product types, and location details to different stores.

The platform's most valuable features include the integrated web-based interface, fast querying speed, performance monitors, and flexibility in node scaling. Additionally, the ability to divide services into different clusters and the availability of exhaustive documentation and consultant support are highly beneficial.

The product could be improved by including a log section for tracking activities, enhancing database integration, and providing more transparency regarding pricing and monitoring activities.

We have been using Couchbase Capella  for the last six months. 

While the product is generally stable, we have encountered high CPU utilization issues, which we address by adjusting scaling.

Capella offers excellent scalability with its flexible node configuration and the ability to scale vertically and horizontally.

The support team is responsive and knowledgeable, although having a dedicated person familiar with our infrastructure would further enhance the support experience.

We previously used Couchbase  Server in-house but switched to Capella to leverage its cloud-based capabilities.

The initial setup was straightforward. 

We implemented Capella in-house, with support from Couchbase  consultants who provided valuable assistance.

I rate Couchbase Capella  a seven out of ten. 

The solution is basically used to support our ordering system, which generates a huge number of orders for our customers. 

The way the nodes are managed is interesting. If you want to remove a node, it's much easier to fill it and take it out. You can also add capacity. 

The XDCR is the best feature that I have seen on Couchbase. When you want to start XDCR, stop it, or change a few things in order to filter out the data, it's easy. The XPCR seems to be a very useful and very creative feature. 

It's a one-click solution. You just stop it. You start it, and you're good to go.

There is no rebuilding access as well, and it's quite a hassle for us on other databases. Couchbase monitoring is also fairly easy, thanks to the dashboards that are provided.  

Overall, the backup feature seems very easy. Log collection is easy too. It's very user-friendly. Even for a beginner, it's pretty simple to get started, thanks to the GUI. That helps people get comfortable with it pretty quickly.

The architecture is complex. I do understand that. However, the GUI is very user-friendly. Sometimes all these things are a little difficult to understand for a person who is not experienced in Couchbase.

There is a constant requirement to upgrade the versions. We need to constantly keep on upgrading the latest version for the newest one. Currently, we are dealing with an issue where some of the servers are on the 6.5 version, and a few have moved to 7.5. So we are in a mixed mode right now. We are having a high IO issue on our servers, which we are already dealing with. We have these cases with Couchbase, with Red Hat, et cetera. We feel like this constant need to upgrade is something that is very mundane yet a very difficult task. If you have three clusters, which have around thirty nodes, the data is quite sensitive. Whenever there is Couchbase upgrade that is going on, we see that our SR is dropped. The purchase rate and success rate drop. This affects our business and the clients. 

Rebalancing could be improved. I find it to be a very slow process when it comes to rebalancing the clusters. If you talk about other architectures like Oracle, they are pretty fast. Couchbase is a little slower. Rebalancing, taking the node out, doing the upgrade, putting it back, rebalancing it, is a very difficult and cumbersome. For Oracle, we have been running on version 19.5 for the past five years. There were absolutely no issues. Yet for Couchbase, every six months, we have to go do the upgrade.

I've been using the solution for three years. We've been using it since version 6 and we are now on version 7.5.

The stability is generally good on version 7.5. The clusters operating on that are fine. We're not sure if we're having issues with a different version. Once all of the clusters are upgraded, we will know more about the high IO we've been seeing. CPUs are spking.. We'll be able to determine if 7.5 is stable then or having issues. 

I haven't had any issues with cluster additions. Capacity enhancement is pretty easy.

They have a compaction feature. It helps us greatly since, most of the time, we don't have to handle any disk utilizations manually. It is running in the background, so it is always taking care of that particular component.

We have a team of seven or eight people working on the solution. We're working on a pretty big project and Couchbase is a crucial component.

We have we have platinum support with Couchbase. Every now and then, we speak to the Couchbase representatives. We also conducted a few sessions with them, during which they helped us do health checks for our servers. We also call Couchbase support to get immediate attention. They simply ask us to upload the log as soon as possible, which is a fair ask. 

They are very specific about uploading those logs. This task becomes very difficult in that you have to upload these logs, or some OS whatsoever files, TF files, et cetera. That becomes very difficult for us. Also, I constantly have to run behind the vendors in order to get proper support to get them on calls. Their processes are stringent, wasting a lot of your time. They need to improve their support system.

We did not previously use a different solution. 

The installation is very easy. 

It does cost extra to get platinum support. 

The cost is worth it as the product is well-designed.

We are Counchbase customers. 

Depending on your application, it is good to use Couchbase where you have high OLTP systems where you know there will be constant data loading, deleting, et cetera, happening. It's a good approach to choosing the Couchbase system, and it's fairly easy to use. The main factor to remember is the tuning component in Couchbase. It can be a nightmare if it's not done properly. That said, the resident ratio, for example, the RAM allocations as per the bucket sizing, et cetera, needs to be looked at very carefully while deploying your buckets. Capacity management is something which needs to be looked into. Think long-term and keep adding the capacity as and when it is needed since that will also not be good for the product itself. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

On-premises

What do you like best about the product?

Whenever we carry deployments using Couchbase Capella into our cloud platform over our organization's network, we are able to obtain substantial control through its Data Plane. The Data Plane also accepts all the control plane IP addresses which we define for maintaining and monitoring our instances. We can configure all allowed IP addresses either as a single address or as a CIDR block as per our cluster requirements. Also, its infrastructure is enforced further using RBAC implementation which is convenient to safeguard our database systems.

What do you dislike about the product?

The learning curve is a little steep while working with its advanced query tuning features. Cost expenditures could be high if we don't utilize its resources properly. We define TTL parameters carefully in order to save cost & resource optimization. Apart from these, Couchbase Capella is suitable to manage our database applications for our customers.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

Couchbase Capella ensures high data availability for our customer applications which are deployed in different geographic regions. It provides plenty of features for major requirements for hosting, database management, storage provisions and email handling. It follows a centralized log management system for handling our RCA and troubleshooting protocols. Since we enable VPC peering, we needn't require any outbound network access for accessing our VPC applications. We can establish cluster isolation, and define our alert rules & metrics for every individual project that we work on with ease.

What do you like best about the product?

simplicity to setup and run, lightning fast.

What do you dislike about the product?

it could have more features compared to its competitors.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

It is very useful for the internal apps that we use.