5 Use Cases: the benefits of Active-Active Redis Enterprise

3 Jul 2020 | Active-Active, Latency, Performance, Redis, Redis Enterprise

For a start, a geographically distributed applications, active-active database architecture is fast becoming a must-have. So, under this superior replication technique offered by Redis Enterprise 5.0, all database instances are available for read and write operations, providing unprecedented availability, performance, and resource utilization.

Additionally, built-in conflict resolution through its CRDT-based architecture significantly simplifies application development when trying to achieve local latencies and high performance across distributed datasets.

Certainly, as the only NoSQL database on the market to leverage CRDT-based active-active architecture, Redis Enterprise offers groundbreaking impact for use cases in ecommerce, IoT, metering, personalization, fraud detection, and more − where high availability, resilience for failure scenarios, and tracking of geo-distributed, simultaneous events are paramount.

What is CRDT Approach?

Firstly, Redis Enterprise achieves active-active replication using CRDTs (conflict-free replicated data types). Secondly, CRDTs provide strong eventual consistency through built-in smart conflict resolution. According to Wikipedia, a conflict-free replicated data type (CRDT) is “a data structure which can be replicated across multiple computers in a network, where the replicas can be updated independently and concurrently without coordination between the replicas, and where it is always mathematically possible to resolve inconsistencies which might result.” (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia: Conflict-free replicated data type).

How Does Active-Active Redis Enterprise Work?

As well as in active-active architecture, all database instances are available for read and write operations and are bidirectionally replicated. Indeed it offers local latency on read and write operations, regardless of the number of geo-replicated regions and their distance from each other.

Therefore, it enables seamless conflict resolution (“conflict-free”) for simple as well as complex data types. Moreover, even if the majority of geo-replicated regions are down, the remaining geo-replicated regions are uninterrupted and can continue to handle read and write operations.

Furthermore, for globally distributed applications, active-active databases provide unprecedented levels of availability, performance, consistency, and resource utilization (no passive or underutilized servers) for a maximum return on investment. For example, the following figure contrasts active-active replication with other common replication techniques:

Active-Active Redis Enterprise supports replication techniques Image

Redis Enterprise 5.0 supports three replication techniques

5 Use Cases that Highlight the Need for Active-Active Redis Enterprise

Be that as it may, we’ve identified 5 use cases that showcase how active-active Redis Enterprise can set your application apart from the competition, and ensure your company never misses a beat in today’s high-speed landscape:

Active-Active Redis Enterprise User Session Migration Image

1. User Session Migration Across Data Centers

In order to achieve optimal user experience, there are times when it’s ideal to shift users to other data centers. For example, a user entering the range of a new, closer data center will experience lower latencies if they are able to establish a connection to the most proximal data center. But the ability to shift users among data centers is a challenging ask of your database if users are mid-session.

However active-active Redis Enterprise, mid-session users get routed from one data center to another in real time, seamlessly. So, all session states are preserved during the transition and both databases converge automatically to the same state with strong eventual consistency.

Active-Active Redis Enterprise Node Failure Handling Image

2. Node Failure Handling without Data Loss

As well as with user session migrations, node failure handling is seamless under active-active Redis Enterprise; so your users, along with their current session data, are automatically routed to the next nearest server. Additionally, all data is immediately consolidated, without data loss, between the two servers.

Active-Active Redis Enterprise Data Consolidation Image

3. Immediate Data Consolidation

In many environments, especially those that employ microservices, apps have their own separate database instances. However, these instances share common datasets (user data is a typical example) which must remain consistent among the various apps. With active-active Redis Enterprise, data is resolved and consolidated immediately among the various database instances to ensure that all services are operating
with real-time data.

Active-Active Redis Enterprise Load Distribution Image

4. Load Distribution

Undoubtedly, the ability to distribute load across multiple servers is critical for accommodating high volumes of traffic and data streaming operations. With active-active Redis Enterprise, all database instances are available for read and write operations, optimizing resource use, maximizing throughput, and minimizing response time.

Active-Active Redis Enterprise Geo-distributed Image

5. Geo-distributed Application Functionality

At first, it’s common for app functionality to be distributed geographically. For example, social media apps have globally distributed counters for tracking engagements such as likes, shares, or retweets. As with social media apps, apps that power auction bidding boards or gaming leaderboards must also consolidate events happening simultaneously across multiple regions and data centers. Application users need to know instantly who is in the lead.

Therefore, as illustrated in these cases, active-active Redis Enterprise is an ideal choice for its ability to immediately resolve and consolidate data among multiple databases. An alternative to ensuring consistent data in these types of scenarios is to employ a central database, but having only one database accepting writes results in high availability and latency issues.

Undeniably, Active-active Redis Enterprise supports the responsiveness, scalability, and geo-distributed functionality required by today’s modern applications, all while maintaining the high performance and simplicity.

However, don’t stop there: keep learning more and download now the ebook 5 Use Cases that Showcase Why You Need Active-Active Redis Enterprise and good reading!

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