# Working with MariaDB replication in Amazon RDS
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You usually use read replicas to configure replication between Amazon RDS DB instances. For general information about read replicas, see [Working with DB instance read replicas](USER_ReadRepl.md). For specific information about working with read replicas on Amazon RDS for MariaDB, see [Working with MariaDB read replicas](USER_MariaDB.Replication.ReadReplicas.md). 

You can also configure replication based on binary log coordinates for a MariaDB DB instance. For MariaDB instances, you can also configure replication based on global transaction IDs (GTIDs), which provides better crash safety. For more information, see [Configuring GTID-based replication with an external source instance](MariaDB.Procedural.Replication.GTID.md). 

The following are other replication options available with RDS for MariaDB:
+ You can set up replication between an RDS for MariaDB DB instance and a MySQL or MariaDB instance that is external to Amazon RDS. For information about configuring replication with an external source, see [Configuring binary log file position replication with an external source instance](MySQL.Procedural.Importing.External.ReplMariaDB.md).
+ You can configure replication to import databases from a MySQL or MariaDB instance that is external to Amazon RDS, or to export databases to such instances. For more information, see [Importing data to an Amazon RDS for MariaDB DB instance with reduced downtime](mariadb-importing-data-reduced-downtime.md) and [Exporting data from a MySQL DB instance by using replication](MySQL.Procedural.Exporting.NonRDSRepl.md).

For any of these replication options, you can use either row-based replication, statement-based, or mixed replication. Row-based replication only replicates the changed rows that result from a SQL statement. Statement-based replication replicates the entire SQL statement. Mixed replication uses statement-based replication when possible, but switches to row-based replication when SQL statements that are unsafe for statement-based replication are run. In most cases, mixed replication is recommended. The binary log format of the DB instance determines whether replication is row-based, statement-based, or mixed. For information about setting the binary log format, see [Configuring MariaDB binary logging](USER_LogAccess.MariaDB.BinaryFormat.md).

For information about replication compatibility between MariaDB versions, see [Replication Compatibility](https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mariadb-vs-mysql-compatibility/#replication-compatibility) in the MariaDB documentation.

**Topics**
+ [Working with MariaDB read replicas](USER_MariaDB.Replication.ReadReplicas.md)
+ [Configuring GTID-based replication with an external source instance](MariaDB.Procedural.Replication.GTID.md)
+ [Configuring binary log file position replication with an external source instance](MySQL.Procedural.Importing.External.ReplMariaDB.md)