Data Replication in DBMS

Last Updated : 19 Sep, 2023

Data Replication is the process of storing data in

more than one site or node. It is useful in
improving the availability of data. It is simply
copying data from a database from one server to
another server so that all the users can share the
same data without any inconsistency. The result
is a distributed database in which users can
access data relevant to their tasks without
interfering with the work of others. Data replication
encompasses the duplication of transactions on
an ongoing basis so that the replicate is in a
consistently updated state and synchronized with
the source. However in data replication data is
available at different locations, but a particular
relation has to reside at only one location. There
can be full replication, in which the whole
database is stored at every site. There can also
be partial replication, in which some frequently
used fragments of the database are replicated
and others are not replicated.
Types of Data Replication -
Transactional Replication: In Transactional
replication users receive full initial copies of the
database and then receive updates as data
changes. Data is copied in real-time from the
publisher to the receiving database(subscriber) in
the same order as they occur with the publisher
therefore in this type of replication, transactional
consistency is guaranteed. Transactional
replication is typically used in server-to-server
environments. It does not simply copy the data
changes, but rather consistently and accurately
replicates each change.
Snapshot Replication: Snapshot replication
distributes data exactly as it appears at a specific
moment in time and the does not monitor for
updates to the data. The entire snapshot is
generated and sent to Users. Snapshot replication
is generally used when data changes are
infrequent. It is a bit slower than transactional
because on each attempt it moves multiple
records from one end to the other end. Snapshot
replication is a good way to perform initial
synchronization between the publisher and the
subscriber.
Merge Replication: Data from two or more
databases is combined into a single database.
Merge replication is the most complex type of
replication because it allows both publisher and
subscriber to independently make changes to the
database. Merge replication is typically used in
server-to-client environments. It allows changes to
be sent from one publisher to multiple
subscribers.
Replication Schemes
1. Full Replication: The most extreme case is
replication of the whole database at every site in
the distributed system. This will improve the
availability of the system because the system can
continue to operate as long as atleast one site is
up.
Data Replication
Advantages of full replication:
High Availability of Data.
Improves the performance for retrieval of global
queries as the result can be obtained locally from
any of the local site.
Faster execution of Queries.
Disadvantages of full replication:
Concurrency is difficult to achieve in full
replication.
Slow update process as a single update must be
performed at different databases to keep the
copies consistent.
The data can be easily recovered.
Concurrency can be achieved in no replication.
Since multiple users are accessing the same
server, it may slow down the execution of queries.
The data is not easily available as there is no
replication.
The number of copies of the fragment depends
upon the importance of data.
To provide a consistent copy of data across all the
database nodes.
To increase the availability of data.
The reliability of data is increased through data
replication.
Data Replication supports multiple users and
gives high performance.
To remove any data redundancy,the databases
are merged and slave databases are updated with
outdated or incomplete data.
Since replicas are created there are chances that
the data is found itself where the transaction is
executing which reduces the data movement.
To perform faster execution of queries.
More storage space is needed as storing the
replicas of same data at different sites consumes
more space.
Data Replication becomes expensive when the
replicas at all different sites need to be updated.
Maintaining Data consistency at all different sites
involves complex measures.
No replication
No replication means, each fragment is stored
exactly at one site.
Advantages of No replication:
Concurrency has been minimized as only one site
to be updated
Only one site hence easy to recover data.
Disadvantages of No replication:
Poor availability of data as centralized server only
has data.
Slow down query execution as multiple clients
accessing same server.
3.Partial replication: Partial replication means,
some fragments are replicated whereas others
are not. Only a subset of the database is
replicated at each site. This reduces storage costs
but requires careful planning to ensure data
consistency.
Advantages of partial replication:
Number of replicas created for a fragment directly
depends upon the importance of data in that
fragment.
Optimized architecture give advantages of both
full replication and no replication scheme.
Features of data replication are:
Increased Availability: Data replication can
improve availability by providing multiple copies of
the same data in different locations, which
reduces the risk of data unavailability due to
network or hardware failures.
Improved Performance: Replicated data can be
accessed more quickly since it is available in
multiple locations, which can help to reduce
network latency and improve query performance.
Enhanced Scalability: Replication can improve
scalability by distributing data across multiple
nodes, which allows for increased processing
power and improved performance.
Improved Fault Tolerance: By storing data
redundantly in multiple locations, replication can
improve fault tolerance by ensuring that data
remains available even if a node or network fails.
Improved Data Locality: Replication can improve
data locality by storing data close to the
applications or users that need it, which can help
to reduce network traffic and improve
performance.
Simplified Backup and Recovery: Replication can
simplify backup and recovery processes by
providing multiple copies of the same data in
different locations, which reduces the risk of data
loss due to hardware or software failures.
Enhanced Disaster Recovery: Replication can
improve disaster recovery capabilities by
providing redundant copies of data in different
geographic locations, which reduces the risk of
data loss due to natural disasters or other events.
There are several types of data replication:
Master-slave replication: In this type of replication,
one database server is designated as the master,
and one or more other servers are designated as
slaves. The master server receives all the write
operations, and the slaves receive a copy of the
data from the master.
Multi-master replication: In this type of replication,
all the servers involved in replication can receive
write operations, and all the updates made to any
server will be replicated to all the other servers.
Peer-to-peer replication: In this type of replication,
each server can act as both a master and a slave,
and the data is replicated between all the servers
in a peer-to-peer fashion.
Single-source replication: In this type of
replication, a single source database is replicated
to multiple target databases.
The advantages of data replication include:
Improved performance, as data can be read from
a local copy of the data instead of a remote one.
Increased data availability, as copies of the data
can be used in case of a failure of the primary
database.
Improved scalability, as the load on the primary
database can be reduced by reading data from
the replicas.
The disadvantages of data replication include:
Increased complexity, as the replication process
needs to be configured and maintained.
Increased risk of data inconsistencies, as data
can be updated simultaneously on different
replicas.
Increased storage and network usage, as multiple
copies of the data need to be stored and
transmitted.
Data replication is widely used in various types of
systems, such as online transaction processing
systems, data warehousing systems, and
distributed systems.