Ben MishaliFollow--ListenShareThe success of any digital service hinges on its availability. In the world of Node.js, achieving high availability often leans on the concept of server redundancy. But not all redundancies are created equal. There’s a marked difference between redundancy achieved on a single computer versus that spread across multiple machines. Let’s delve deeper.At its core, server redundancy is about having backup server instances ensuring uninterrupted operation in case of failures. This redundancy can be achieved either on a single computer by utilizing multiple cores or distributed across different physical or virtual machines.Redundancy was initially a luxury, exclusive to large corporations with deep pockets. Mainframe computers had backup systems in place, but these were costly and challenging to maintain.As the internet became mainstream, so did the need for continuous uptime. Websites that couldn’t maintain constant uptime lost user trust quickly. Redundancy began its shift from luxury to necessity.Cloud providers democratized redundancy. Even small applications could have backup servers across the world, making applications resilient and globally accessible.When we talk about redundancy on one computer, we’re primarily referring to multi-core utilization.Using Node.js’s built-in cluster module, you can fork multiple child processes (workers) that run simultaneously, providing redundancy at the CPU core level.This method involves distributing server instances across different physical or virtual machines.Deploying Node.js instances on cloud platforms like AWS EC2 or Azure VMs and using a load balancer like AWS ELB or NGINX to distribute incoming traffic.Hybrid Redundancy: Combining both strategies provides an additional layer of resilience. For example, each physical machine or VM can use the cluster module to maximize CPU core utilization, and a load balancer can distribute traffic among these multi-core optimized machines.For applications deployed across multiple machines or in the cloud, Kubernetes — a container orchestration system — works beautifully with Node.js:Single computer redundancy is limited to the computer’s capacity, while multiple machines offer broader scalability and fault tolerance.While managing multiple instances on one computer is relatively straightforward, distributed redundancy demands robust orchestration, synchronization, and monitoring tools.Single computer redundancy might be more cost-effective in the short term, but distributed redundancy offers greater long-term scalability.The choice between single computer and multiple machine redundancy is not binary; it depends on your application’s requirements, expected traffic, growth prospects, and budget. Often, a hybrid approach, combining both strategies, can offer a balanced, robust solution. As Node.js continues to dominate the server-side landscape, understanding and efficiently implementing redundancy will be paramount for delivering consistently exceptional user experiences.----𝔹𝕖𝕟 | 𝕊𝕠𝕗𝕥𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝔼𝕟𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕣 🕵‍♂️ Technologies Explorer 👨🏻‍💻 Web & Native developer 🤓 Sharing my knowledge and experiencesBen Mishali--25Ben Mishali--5Ben MishaliinBits and Pieces--Ben Mishali--10Jeswanth ReddyinVersion 1--7Coding BeautyinDev Genius--5sanjarcode--Soumya Sagar--4Godstime AburuinStackAnatomy--Zeyad AbulabaninCloud Native Daily--HelpStatusWritersBlogCareersPrivacyTermsAboutText to speechTeams