What is a disadvantage of asynchronous replication compared to synchronous replication?

Asynchronous replication involves a delay in data being copied from the primary site to the secondary site. This can lead to a situation where, in the event of a failure or network issue, the most recent data changes may not have been replicated to the secondary site yet. Therefore, if the network connection goes down, there is a potential for data loss since the data that was not yet synchronized will not be available at the secondary site.

In contrast, synchronous replication ensures that data is written to both the primary and secondary storage at the same time, meaning there is no risk of data loss due to network failures since both locations have the most up-to-date information. Understanding this distinction is crucial for scenarios where data integrity and availability are paramount, particularly in systems where data loss cannot be tolerated.