A database that easily spans multiple data centers and/or the cloud ensures the fastest possible response times (both read and write) for customers and employees who are geographically separated. A multi-data center database also provides a number of other benefits such as protecting information from loss in the event that a single data center experiences a disaster.
This paper discusses why multi-data center databases are fast becoming the new norm for database operations, along with what characteristics a database must possess to run across many data centers and the cloud at once. Focus is then turned to how Apache Cassandra™, Hadoop™, and Solr™ can be easily configured to run across multiple data centers and cloud providers to meet the requirements of those needing a smart and agile datastore that is truly location independent.