Administration Guide › About Directories › What Is a Directory? › Data in a Directory Can Be Distributed and Replicated › Replication

Replication

Replication is important for recovery and sometimes for performance. Replication occurs when the same directory entry namespace exists on different servers. This is similar to the idea of mirror sites on the World Wide Web.

The following diagram shows how one directory namespace is replicated across three servers:

Replication involves copying data. Whenever data is copied, you must ensure that the copies are synchronized. This can make the cost of developing and maintaining replicated systems expensive, and you should weigh it against the benefits of performance and recovery in the event of failure.