replica doesn't imply a power relationship. Master controls the slave , which is accurate
- Master database tells the slaves what to write
- Master clock tells slave the time
- Master HDD controls the computer , so indirectly controls secondary -- though in this case slave HDD is more auxiliary rather than subordinate (this terminology isnt used anymore anyway)
In any case, master/slave terminology is historical and generally unproblematic, except apparently in the US, but so many words are problematic for someone somewhere that it's not wise to go down that road
Not accurate in databases (where master only means authoritative source), not accurate in hard drives (master only denotes precedence), not accurate in hardware clocks (used to determine sync hierarchy - see NTP for a much better convention). "Master" only makes sense in a system where a component is delegating tasks and controlling one or more "slaves", and even then something like "controller" is clearer.
But that's only an ad-hoc state of affairs; the only thing telling a database (in postgres, at least) that it's a replica is that it has a couple of settings telling it what to replicate from, and if you remove those and restart (or otherwise trigger a failover), the replica becomes the new master.
- Master database tells the slaves what to write
- Master clock tells slave the time
- Master HDD controls the computer , so indirectly controls secondary -- though in this case slave HDD is more auxiliary rather than subordinate (this terminology isnt used anymore anyway)
In any case, master/slave terminology is historical and generally unproblematic, except apparently in the US, but so many words are problematic for someone somewhere that it's not wise to go down that road