Server mirroring
Server mirroring definition
Server mirroring means having an exact real-time replica of a server or its data. The mirroring process ensures critical systems’ high availability, redundancy, and failover capabilities. When one server fails, its mirrored counterpart can immediately take over. It minimizes or even eliminates downtime.
While server mirroring provides a lot of advantages, it also has challenges. Server mirroring requires more resources (since two or more servers run simultaneously). It can also cause data collision issues and complicate the setup and maintenance.
See also: server redundancy, global server load balancing, data center storage
Benefits of server mirroring
Redundancy: If one server fails, its twin takes over, ensuring no service interruption.
Data Consistency: Both servers update with the same data and always match.
Load Distribution: Both mirrored servers work simultaneously, sharing the workload and improving speed.
Maintenance: You can update or fix one server while the other keeps running.
Disaster Protection: Servers can be placed in different areas. If a disaster affects one area, the server in another area keeps working.
Synchronization: The two servers update each other to match.
Automatic Switching: If one server stops, the system switches to the other one.
Backup Note: Mirroring doesn’t replace the need for backups. Mirrors copy all changes, even unwanted ones. Regular backups provide a safety net.