> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://developer.harness.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://developer.harness.io/self-managed-enterprise-edition/use-self-managed-enterprise-edition/advanced-configuration/external-db/configure-external-databases.md).

# Configure Harness Self-Managed Enterprise Edition to use external databases

By default, Harness Self-Managed Enterprise Edition uses an embedded database, which is sufficient for evaluation or small to medium scale deployments. However, as your deployment scales and becomes critical for your organization, it's essential to switch to a more robust external database solution.

Harness supports multiple databases when you deploy Harness Self-Managed Enterprise Edition. To use an external database with Harness, you must install and configure the database software as a self-managed or cloud-based solution. Once your external database is set up, you can then configure Harness to connect to it. This involves specifying the database connection properties, such as the database URL, username, and password.

### Benefits of an external database <a href="#benefits-of-an-external-database" id="benefits-of-an-external-database"></a>

Below are some of the benefits of using an external database:

* High availability
* [Disaster recovery](/self-managed-enterprise-edition/use-self-managed-enterprise-edition/advanced-configuration/set-up-disaster-recovery.md)
* No maintenance downtime
* Secondary read support (read scaling)

### Setup <a href="#setup" id="setup"></a>

The specific steps and procedures to set up an external database with Harness vary, depending on the version and your specific deployment environment. It's always best to refer to the official Harness documentation and consult support resources for the most up-to-date and accurate information regarding database configuration for production-ready deployments.

### Database options <a href="#database-options" id="database-options"></a>

You can configure any of the following external databases with Harness Self-Managed Enterprise Edition:

* [Cloud-based MongoDB](/self-managed-enterprise-edition/use-self-managed-enterprise-edition/advanced-configuration/external-db/mongo-db/use-an-external-mongodb-database.md)
* [Self-managed MongoDB](/self-managed-enterprise-edition/use-self-managed-enterprise-edition/advanced-configuration/external-db/mongo-db/use-an-external-self-managed-mongodb.md)
* [Self-managed PostgreSQL](/self-managed-enterprise-edition/use-self-managed-enterprise-edition/advanced-configuration/external-db/postgresql/use-an-external-postgres-database.md)
* [Self-managed Redis](/self-managed-enterprise-edition/use-self-managed-enterprise-edition/advanced-configuration/external-db/redis/use-an-external-redis-database.md)
* [Self-managed TimescaleDB](/self-managed-enterprise-edition/use-self-managed-enterprise-edition/advanced-configuration/external-db/timescaledb/use-an-external-sm-timescaledb.md)