CompTIA DataSys+ (DS0-001)Business ContinuityEasy
A database administrator is configuring a high availability solution for a critical OLTP database. The business requires that in the event of a primary server failure, the database system automatically switches to a standby server with minimal downtime and no manual intervention. Which of the following high availability solutions best meets these requirements?
- ADatabase Mirroring (Witness Mode)
- BActive-Active Cluster
- CLog Shipping
- DReplication
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Active-Active Cluster
An Active-Active Cluster provides automatic failover with minimal downtime by having multiple nodes actively processing requests. In a failure, the remaining active nodes seamlessly take over the workload.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Database Mirroring with a witness can provide automatic failover but typically involves a single primary and a single mirror, not the distributed processing implied by 'minimal downtime' and 'no manual intervention' for large OLTP systems needing high throughput.
- C. Log Shipping provides disaster recovery but requires manual intervention for failover and has higher downtime.
- D. Replication is a broad term; while it can be part of HA, it doesn't inherently guarantee automatic failover with minimal downtime without additional clustering mechanisms.
Active-Active Cluster
An Active-Active cluster configuration where all nodes in the cluster are actively processing requests and can automatically take over the workload of a failed node.
- All nodes process requests concurrently.
- Provides high availability and load balancing.
- Automatic failover with minimal downtime.
- More complex to set up and manage than active-passive.
Memory trick: Always Active, Always Available.