MongoDB’s greatest shortcoming – 2.5 GB limit on 32bit Platforms

Hage Yaapa

MongoDB's 2.5 GB limitation

Just as I was about do a test project using MongoDB, I am informed by my host Webfaction that data on MongoDB will be limited to ~2.5GB only. It is not a limitation set by Webfaction, rather it is a limitation in the 32bit version of MongoDB. What the hell?!

The MongoDB guys explains the reason thus:

"By not supporting more than 2gb on 32-bit, we’ve been able to keep our code much simpler and cleaner. This greatly reduces the number of bugs, and reduces the time that we need to release a 1.0 product. The world is moving toward all 64-bit very quickly. Right now there aren’t too many people for whom 64-bit is a problem, and in the long term, we think this will be a non-issue."

Whatever be the reason, I really wish MongoDB would remove this limitation on the 32bit version, I don't think Webfaction is going to upgrade ALL its servers to 64bit anytime soon. So conclusion is, MongoDB is definitely not an option if you are looking to develop a data extensive website - on a 32bit platform. So sad.

Reference

1. MongoDB 32bit limitation