---
keywords: [enterprise, cluster, read replica, leader region, follower region]
description: Overview, key concepts, and step-by-step instructions for managing and querying read replicas in GreptimeDB Enterprise.
---

# Query Read Replicas

GreptimeDB allows you to read from **Region Replicas (follower regions)** to reduce load on Write Replicas (Leader regions) and improve query scalability. You can control the read preference through both **SQL** and **HTTP** protocols.

:::warning Warning
Read Replicas (Follower Regions) require [object storage](/user-guide/deployments-administration/configuration.md#storage-options) (e.g., AWS S3).
Because Follower Regions may be scheduled onto different Datanodes, they must share access to Region data through object storage. Clusters using only local storage are not supported.

Before allowing queries to read from Follower Regions, ensure that [GC](/user-guide/deployments-administration/manage-data/gc.md) is enabled on Metasrv and all Datanodes. Reading from Follower Regions is only supported when GC is enabled.
:::

## Read Preference Options

The `READ_PREFERENCE` setting accepts the following values:

* **`leader`**
  Always read from write replicas.

* **`follower`**
  Read only from read replicas. The query will fail if no read replicas exist.

* **`follower_preferred`**
  Prefer read replicas. If read replicas are available, the query reads from a randomly selected read replica. If no read replica exists, the query falls back to a write replica.

* **`random`**
  Read from a randomly selected write replica or read replica.

## SQL Protocol

You can set the read preference in a SQL session:

```sql
SET READ_PREFERENCE = 'follower';
```

---

## HTTP Protocol

For HTTP requests, specify the `X-Greptime-Read-Preference` header.

Example:

```bash
curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  -H "X-Greptime-Read-Preference: follower" \
  -d "sql=select * from monitoring" \
  http://localhost:4000/v1/sql
```

---

## Example: Reading from Read Replicas

Before reading from Read Replicas, you need to add Read Replicas to the table. See [Replica Management](/enterprise/read-replicas/manage-read-replicas.md) for more details.

Insert some data into a table:

```sql
INSERT INTO foo (ts, i, s)
VALUES
  (1, -1, 's1'),
  (2, 0, 's2'),
  (3, 1, 's3');
```

Set the read preference to read replicas:

```sql
SET READ_PREFERENCE = 'follower';
```

Query the data:

```sql
SELECT * FROM foo ORDER BY ts;

+----------------------------+------+------+
| ts                         | i    | s    |
+----------------------------+------+------+
| 1970-01-01 00:00:00.001000 |   -1 | s1   |
| 1970-01-01 00:00:00.002000 |    0 | s2   |
| 1970-01-01 00:00:00.003000 |    1 | s3   |
+----------------------------+------+------+
```

---

## Verifying Follower Reads

To confirm that queries are served by read replicas, use `EXPLAIN ANALYZE`:

```sql
EXPLAIN ANALYZE SELECT * FROM foo ORDER BY ts;
```

* A **non-zero `other_ranges`** value indicates read replicas were involved.
* With the `VERBOSE` option, you can see details like this:

```plaintext
extension_ranges: [LeaderMemtableRange{leader: Peer { id: 1, addr: "192.168.50.189:14101" }, num_rows: 2, time_range: (1::Millisecond, 2::Millisecond) ...
```

If the query runs only on leaders, this `extension_ranges` section will not appear.
