Mongo DB Index Creation using ensure index - php

Question

I am using Mongo db for storing large sets of data that inserts hundreds of records within a millisecond. Its been couple of years the system is running and works. But as per business need I need to add a new index in mongo db collections:
I am using php Shanty library to create index. Here is the snippet of code
$indexArray[] = array(
"index" => array(
"category" => -1,
"sub_category" => 1,
"name" => 1,
"product_name" => 1,
"category_id" => 1,
"value" => -1,
"begin_dt_tm" => -1
),
"options" => array(
"background" => true,
"name" => "Index_CSNPCIdVBdt"
)
);
foreach ($indexArray as $columnIndexData) {
$newCollectionObject->ensureIndex($columnIndexData["index"], $columnIndexData["options"]);
}
This above creates the indexes fine. The only problem which I am facing is during the index creation process my system goes down and mongo db doesn't respond. I have set 'background:true' option that does this job in background but still it keeps my server unresponsive till indexes are created.
Is there any alternate to it so that mongo db remain responsive?

Answer 1

With a replica set you could do a rolling maintenance (basically create indexes on your secondaries while they are running as standalone instances) and that will not affect your clients. Since you have a standalone instance that is not an option for you.
I suspect that the load on your server is rather high and/or your hardware is the bottleneck (the usual suspects not enough RAM, slow disks...)