Replication (computing): Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Sharing information to ensure consistency in computing}}

{{More footnotes needed|date=October 2012}}

'''Replication''' in [[computing]] refers to maintaining multiple copies of data, processes, or resources to ensure consistency across redundant components. This fundamental technique spans [[database management system|databases]], [[file system|file systems]], and [[distributed computing|distributed systems]], serving to improve [[high availability|availability]], [[fault-tolerance]], accessibility, and performance.<ref name="kleppmann"/> Through replication, systems can continue operating when components fail ([[failover]]), serve requests from geographically distributed locations, and balance load across multiple machines. The challenge lies in maintaining consistency between replicas while managing the fundamental tradeoffs between data consistency, system availability, and [[network partition tolerance]] – constraints known as the [[CAP theorem]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Brewer |first=Eric A. |title=Towards robust distributed systems |journal=Proceedings of the Annual ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing |year=2000 |doi=10.1145/343477.343502}}</ref>

'''Replication''' in [[computing]] involves sharing information so as to ensure consistency between redundant resources, such as [[software]] or [[computer hardware|hardware]] components, to improve reliability, [[fault-tolerance]], or accessibility.

== {{Anchor|MASTER-ELECTION}}Terminology ==