A replication system that ensures data remains synchronized across multiple data centers is referred to as what?

A replication system that ensures data remains synchronized across multiple data centers is referred to as synchronous replication. This method guarantees that the data is identical at all targeted locations at any given moment. When data is written to the primary data center, it is simultaneously replicated to the secondary locations, ensuring consistency and reducing the risk of data loss during outages or failures.

Synchronous replication is particularly important in environments where real-time data accessibility and integrity are critical, such as financial systems or disaster recovery setups. The data is committed at all locations concurrently, meaning users at different sites see the same data state without any transactional delay.

In contrast, asynchronous replication focuses on performance and may allow delays in updating secondary data centers, making it less suitable for scenarios where immediate data consistency is crucial. Incremental and full replication refer to the nature of the data being transferred rather than how synchronization across locations is managed. Incremental involves only transferring changes after an initial full backup, while full replication means every bit of data is copied each time, which does not inherently ensure real-time synchronization between multiple sites.