Geoplexing is a

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

term relating to the duplication of

computer storage Computer data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. The central processing unit (CPU) of a compute ...

and

applications Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...

within a

server farm A server farm or server cluster is a collection of Server (computing), computer servers, usually maintained by an organization to supply server functionality far beyond the capability of a single machine. They often consist of thousands of compu ...

over geographically diverse locations for the purpose of

fault tolerance Fault tolerance is the property that enables a system to continue operating properly in the event of the failure of one or more faults within some of its components. If its operating quality decreases at all, the decrease is proportional to the ...

. The name comes from a contraction of geographical

multiplex Multiplex may refer to: * Multiplex (automobile), a former American car make * Multiplex (comics), a DC comic book supervillain * Multiplex (company), a global contracting and development company * Multiplex (assay), a biological assay which measur ...

Description

In a geoplex, server clusters are duplicated over one or more geographically separate sites. Geoplexes can be "active-active" (where all of the clusters are used in tandem) or "active-passive" (where one or more of the clusters are kept as a

hot spare A hot spare or warm spare or hot standby is used as a failover mechanism to provide reliability in system configurations. The hot spare is active and connected as part of a working system. When a key component fails, the hot spare is switched i ...

). Data and applications are shared either via

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, cl ...

or partitioning. With cloning, each server in a cluster handles one or more applications, with the applications and the data both being cloned to other servers in the geoplex, and so a

load balancer In computing, load balancing is the process of distributing a set of tasks over a set of resources (computing units), with the aim of making their overall processing more efficient. Load balancing can optimize the response time and avoid unevenl ...

then distributes requests to the cloned servers. Meanwhile, with partitioning, hardware and applications are duplicated in the geoplex, while application datasets are divided between the servers, and therefore requests are routed to the appropriate server.

References

Fault-tolerant computer systems Data synchronization Computer storage technologies {{computer-security-stub