Which MySQL column type should i use to store a MongoDB primary key

Answer

char(24)

Details

The default unique identifier generated as the primary key (_id) for a MongoDB document is an ObjectId. This is a 12 byte binary value which is often represented as a 24 character hex string, and one of the standard field types supported by the MongoDB BSON specification.

The 12 bytes of an ObjectId are constructed using:

  • a 4 byte value representing the seconds since the Unix epoch
  • a 3 byte machine identifier
  • a 2 byte process id
  • a 3 byte counter (starting with a random value)