Active-active or dual active infrastructure is a phrase used to describe a network of independent processing nodes where each node has access to a replicated database, giving each node access and usage of a single application. In an active-active system all requests are load-balanced across all available processing capacity. If a failure occurs on a node, another node in the network takes its place.

When multiple copies of an application are run in an environment, the environment is known as an active-active environment. With the advent of cloud infrastructure and related technology advances, active-active environments are much more feasible for organizations of any size.

In order to have an active-active application, you must first have active-active data centers. When you have the two together, you have the ability to deliver a new level of service called continuous availability.

Modern approaches to developing applications, including cloud based services and microservices, consider scalability as one of the essential design principles. An active-active environment provides cost efficiency thanks to the availability of cloud computing infrastructures and multi-tested open-source library sets.