Distributed Databases
Distributed databases are database systems where data is stored across multiple physical locations, such as servers or data centers, often interconnected via a network. They are designed to handle large-scale data storage and processing by distributing the workload, improving scalability, fault tolerance, and performance compared to centralized databases. Common architectures include sharding, replication, and partitioning to manage data distribution and consistency.
Developers should learn and use distributed databases when building applications that require high availability, scalability, and resilience, such as global web services, big data analytics, or real-time systems. They are essential for handling massive datasets, supporting concurrent users, and ensuring data durability in distributed environments like cloud computing or microservices architectures.