Should you switch to Multi-region Database Architecture? Know Here!
Tags: database, architecture, cloud, codenewbie
Published: 2022-09-13 16:20:29

Modern app users need an always-on, low-latency experience regardless of location. As a result, many businesses deploy multiple instances of various apps and services across different cloud locations to suit these requirements. Unfortunately, this technique might often cause downtime and data discrepancies. 

And that’s where a multi-region database comes into action. It helps your applications withstand a region failure without downtime while assuring consistent and low latency data access no matter where you do business. So, let’s dive into the reasons for building a multi-region application architecture.

##Key Reasons to Adopt a Multi-region Database Architecture

###Disaster Recovery

Unexpected breakdowns and outages cause revenue losses in the millions of dollars. Subsequently, customers must deal with half-loaded data, resulting in extreme dissatisfaction and a higher bounce rate. Therefore disaster recovery becomes a necessity for enterprises. 

Let's understand this with an example of an eCommerce business. eCommerce businesses mainly deal with a humongous amount of data across multiple locations. Therefore, critical data from product databases of [eCommerce websites](https://dev.to/ronakmgani7/7-trust-building-signals-for-ecommerce-websites-that-must-use-to-increase-revenue-in-2018-3ab5) may occasionally be missing even after integrating advanced ERP systems. 

You need several databases deployed across multiple regions to accept read and write requests. In such instances, a powerful database enables organizations to replicate data across continents or within a single country.

###App architecture flexibility

Scaling up and down a database becomes much easier in the case of multi-region database architecture. The reason behind this is as follows -

####App logic

An essential capability for businesses to thrive, grow, and even survive is the ability to react and adapt to change. While switching to multi-region database architecture, you can work with the same application logic. Also, you don’t need to make any changes to the existing code. 

For instance, if you are an online food delivery service provider in France, expanding your operations in the USA is much easier if you already have a multi-region app deployment.  

####Cloud deployments

Your app and its database are distributed over different servers within multiple regions with the help of multi-region database architecture. For instance, AWS makes this process seamless by adding a regional server. After this, you just have to deploy the app and database to the server rather than start from scratch.

###Minimal latency for geographically distributed users

Generally, keeping latencies under 100 milliseconds is considered a good rule of thumb. However, maintaining latencies under 100 milliseconds is arduous as the speed of light confines the data. Here the secret sauce to success is adopting the multi-region database architecture.        

[Multi-region databases](https://www.simform.com/blog/multi-region-databases/) help you resolve low latency when your users are spread across the globe. Let’s say your company has its base in the United States, and your clients are in Australia. So, if you deploy your app at one location, the users in another place might have to wait a bit longer to process their requests. On the other hand, if you deploy your app in multiple regions and put a data center in the US, the response time will drastically reduce.

###Support for Active/Active architecture

There are some databases that are Active/Passive, meaning you cannot create a new database if the primary database fails. In contrast, Active/Active database architecture lets you write any node, which is its core plus point. Moreover, it enables you to combine various app instances with multiple database regions. As a result, you can quickly boost the number of instances without modifying the entire app code. 

###Compliance with relevant data privacy regulations

Many new data storage norms and regulations are forming with the increase in data privacy and cybersecurity concerns. In 2021, [over 160 consumer privacy-oriented bills](https://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/2021-consumer-data-privacy-legislation.aspx) have been passed to strengthen overall data privacy.

So if you are looking forward to serving global customers through your apps, you need to integrate a method like a multi-region data structure that allows you to store app data in a specified location. As a result, you can effectively comply with prevalent regulatory data protection standards and reduce the risk of being fined.

##Wrapping Up

Despite multi-region databases offering myriad benefits, many enterprises are hesitant to adopt them. The cost associated with databases is one of the biggest reasons behind this. However, if you want to extend your app user base rather than being confined to a single region, you should consider switching to a multi-region app database. Serverless, multi-region databases can help you meet the expectations of app users without performance hiccups, no matter where they are in the world.