What is MySQL replication and when should you use it?

This post details the use cases for MySQL replication, including read-only connections, backups, analytical workloads, high availability, and planned upgrades. It explains how replication can be used to balance read load, offload backup processes, isolate analytical queries, facilitate high availability through failover, and enable rolling upgrades with minimal downtime. The post also touches on the potential for replication lag in read-only scenarios.