What does the term "geo-replication" refer to in Azure SQL Database?

The term "geo-replication" in the context of Azure SQL Database refers specifically to the ability to create readable secondary databases in different Azure regions. This feature allows for the geographical distribution of your data, helping ensure that applications can still access and utilize the database even if there are regional outages or if they require data locality for compliance or performance reasons.

Geo-replication creates a copy of the primary database in another Azure region, allowing read operations to be handled by this secondary instance. This setup enhances availability and provides disaster recovery capabilities, enabling organizations to have a business continuity plan in place. Furthermore, by allowing read-only access to the secondary replicas, applications can balance workloads across regions and improve performance for users who are geographically distant from the primary database.

The other choices do not accurately describe the feature of geo-replication and instead pertain to other functionalities or practices in database management within Azure.