Georeplication

Georeplication is the process of replicating data across geographically dispersed data stores or datacenters to improve availability, durability, and performance for global users. It typically involves synchronizing changes from a primary site to one or more secondary sites, which may be in different regions or countries. Georeplication can be configured for various consistency and latency goals, using synchronous replication (where writes are confirmed only after being durably written in all sites) or asynchronous replication (where writes are acknowledged locally and propagated later). Multi-site architectures include primary-secondary (master-slave) and active-active (multi-master) designs, with conflict resolution strategies in case of concurrent writes.

Common implementation approaches include log shipping, streaming replication, and change data capture to propagate updates. Networks, bandwidth, and latency influence replication lag and agreement protocols, and the CAP theorem frames tradeoffs between consistency, availability, and partition tolerance. Georeplication supports faster local reads, disaster recovery, and compliance with data residency requirements, but introduces complexity in consistency management and potential costs in cross-region replication and data transfer.

Security and governance concerns include encryption in transit and at rest, authenticated access, and compliance with data sovereignty and privacy laws. Typical use cases are globally distributed applications, content delivery, and cloud-based databases and storage systems that require high availability and regional resilience. Trade-offs must be carefully managed to balance performance, consistency, cost, and regulatory constraints.