Which strategy is commonly used to ensure data availability and prevent loss?

Replication is a widely accepted strategy for ensuring data availability and preventing data loss. This technique involves creating and maintaining copies of data across multiple locations or systems. By having duplicate copies, organizations can safeguard against hardware failures, data corruption, or accidental deletions. In the event that the primary data source becomes unavailable, these replicas can be quickly accessed, thereby minimizing downtime and maintaining business continuity.

In cloud environments, replication can be implemented at various levels, including file, block, and object storage. It also plays a crucial role in disaster recovery plans, as replicated data ensures that backups are readily available during critical incidents.

In contrast, compression reduces the size of data for storage efficiency but does not directly address availability or loss prevention. Deduplication minimizes storage usage by eliminating duplicate copies of data, while encryption secures data but does not enhance its availability. All of these strategies serve important roles in data management, but replication stands out specifically for its focus on ensuring data is available and protected against loss.