Connection Server instances in a pod federation use the Global Data Layer to share key data. Shared data includes information about the pod federation topology, user and group entitlements, policies, and other Cloud Pod Architecture configuration information.

In a Cloud Pod Architecture environment, shared data is replicated on every Connection Server instance in a pod federation. Entitlement and topology configuration information stored in the Global Data Layer determines where and how desktops are allocated across the pod federation.

Horizon sets up the Global Data Layer on each Connection Server instance in a pod federation when you initialize the Cloud Pod Architecture feature.