Replication is a powerful feature in SQL Server that allows you to distribute and synchronize data across multiple databases. It is particularly useful in scenarios where you need to have multiple copies of the same data in different locations.

Let’s take a closer look at some key concepts related to SQL Server replication:

Publisher

The publisher is the source database where replication begins. It is responsible for making the data available for replication.

Subscriber

The subscriber is the destination database where replication ends. It can either receive a snapshot of all the published data or apply transactions that have been replicated to it.

Distributor

The distributor acts as an intermediary between the publisher and subscriber. It receives publishing transactions or snapshots and then stores and forwards these publications to the subscribers.

Publication

A publication is a storage container for different articles. A subscriber can subscribe to an individual article or an entire publication.

Article

An article is the actual data, transactions, or stored procedures that are stored within a publication. This is the information that is going to be replicated.

Two-phase commit

Two-phase commit is a form of replication in which modifications made to the publications database are made in the subscription database at the same time. This ensures that the data remains consistent across all databases involved in the replication process.

SQL Server replication allows multiple users to work with their own local copy of a database while keeping the database updated as if they were working on a single, centralized database. This can greatly improve performance and availability in distributed environments.

I hope this quick reference has provided you with a better understanding of SQL Server replication. If you found this article helpful, let me know and I will continue to publish more articles on this blog in the future.