Previous to MySQL 5.1.6, asynchronous replication, more usually referred to simply as “replication”, was not available when using MySQL Cluster. MySQL 5.1.6 introduces master-slave replication of this type for MySQL Cluster databases. This section explains how to set up and manage a configuration wherein one group of computers operating as a MySQL Cluster replicates to a second computer or group of computers. We assume some familiarity on the part of the reader with standard MySQL replication as discussed elsewhere in this Manual. (See Chapter 15, Replication).

Normal (non-clustered) replication involves a “master” server and a “slave” server, the master being the source of the operations and data to be replicated and the slave being the recipient of these. In MySQL Cluster, replication is conceptually very similar but can be more complex in practice, as it may be extended to cover a number of different configurations including replicating between two complete clusters. Although a MySQL Cluster itself depends on the NDB storage engine for clustering functionality, it is not necessary to use NDB as the storage engine for the slave's copies of the replicated tables (see Replication from NDB to non-NDB tables). However, for maximum availability, it is possible (and preferable) to replicate from one MySQL Cluster to another, and it is this scenario that we discuss, as shown in the following figure:

In this scenario, the replication process is one in which successive states of a master cluster are logged and saved to a slave cluster. This process is accomplished by a special thread known as the NDB binlog injector thread, which runs on each MySQL server and produces a binary log (binlog). This thread ensures that all changes in the cluster producing the binary log—and not just those changes that are effected through the MySQL Server—are inserted into the binary log with the correct serialization order. We refer to the MySQL replication master and replication slave servers as replication servers or replication nodes, and the data flow or line of communication between them as a replication channel.

For information about performing point-in-time recovery with MySQL Cluster and MySQL Cluster Replication, see Section 16.6.9.2, “Point-In-Time Recovery Using MySQL Cluster Replication”.

NDB API _slave status variables.  Beginning with MySQL Cluster NDB 7.0.22 and MySQL Cluster NDB 7.1.11, NDB API counters provide enhanced monitoring capabilities on MySQL Cluster replication slaves. These are implelemented as NDB statistics _slave status variables, as seen in the output of SHOW STATUS, or in the results of queries against the SESSION_STATUS or GLOBAL_STATUS table in a mysql client session connected to a MySQL Server that is acting as a slave in MySQL Cluster Replication. By comparing the values of these status variables before and after the execution of statements affecting replicated NDB tables, you can observe the corresponding actions taken on the NDB API level by the slave, which can be useful when monitoring or troubleshooting MySQL Cluster Replication. Section 16.5.14, “NDB API Statistics Counters and Variables”, provides additional information.

Replication from NDB to non-NDB tables.  It is possible to replicate NDB tables from a MySQL Cluster acting as the master to tables using other MySQL storage engines such as InnoDB or MyISAM on a slave mysqld. However, because of differences between the version of mysqld provided with MySQL Cluster and that included with MySQL Server 5.1, the slave server must also use a mysqld binary from the MySQL Cluster distribution. See Section 16.6.2, “General Requirements for MySQL Cluster Replication”.