I have a writeup here:
http://www.korokithakis.net/posts/using-mongodb-for-great-sc...
http://www.korokithakis.net/posts/using-mongodb-for-great-sc...
As for the data corruption, I didnt see you mention if you were checking for a response on saves or not.
I think the problems you experienced were due much more to the fact that you apparently had more data than the machine could handle, not necessarily the database engine used.
If only we could make database software that didn't hold grudges!
Just curious what the magic incantation is for this information.