Azure Database for MariaDB now supports asynchronous replication of data from one Azure Database for MariaDB server (the ‘master’) to up to five Azure Database for MariaDB servers (the ‘replicas’) in the same region. This allows read-heavy workloads to scale out and be balanced across replica servers according to users' preferences. Replica servers are read-only; any writes are those replicated from data changes on the master. Stopping replication to a replica server causes it to become a standalone server that accepts reads and writes. For more information, see our Read replicas in Azure Database for MariaDB documentation.