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Published on

December 24, 2020

SQL Server’s Transactional Replication: A Real-world Setup Guide

Transactional Replication is a feature of Microsoft SQL Server that allows users to maintain copies of data across various SQL Server instances. Its primary role is to ensure that changes made in one database are automatically replicated in other databases in real-time. This mechanism is highly beneficial for organizations prioritizing data availability, consistency, and real-time reporting without affecting the performance of the primary database.

This guide will walk you through setting up Transactional Replication in SQL Server, covering everything from basic concepts to step-by-step instructions. Ideal for SQL Server administrators and database developers, this article depicts a practical outlook on configuring Replication for real-world applications.

Understanding Transactional Replication

Before we dive into the setup, let’s first establish a strong understanding of Transactional Replication.

Key Components

The fundamental elements of Transactional Replication are:

  • Publisher: The source server that publishes data sets is known as the Publisher. It holds the original copy of the database that will be replicated to Subscribers.
  • Distributor: An intermediary between Publisher and Subscriber, the Distributor houses metadata, transactions, and other replication settings. Often co-located with the Publisher, it can also be configured on a separate server for performance or organizational reasons.
  • Subscriber: The receiving server of the replicated data. Subscribers can receive data from multiple Publishers.
  • Publication: A defined set of database objects, such as tables or stored procedures, specifically configured to be replicated.
  • Subscription: Subscribers access data by creating a Subscription to a Publication. There are two types of Subscriptions: Push and Pull. Push Subscriptions are controlled and maintained by the Distributor, while Pull Subscriptions are controlled by the Subscriber.
  • Articles: These are the specific objects, like tables, views, or stored procedures, included within a Publication to be replicated.

Types of Replication in SQL Server

SQL Server supports three types of replication:

  • Snapshot Replication: Snapshot replication distributes data exactly as it appears at a specific moment in time and does not monitor for updates, suitable for relatively static data.
  • Merge Replication: Merge replication allows changes from both Publisher and Subscriber to be merged together. It is best for mobile applications or distributed server environments where data changes frequently at both ends.
  • Transactional Replication: Our focal point in this article, transactional replication, captures transactions committed on the Publisher and applies them to Subscribers, maintaining a consistent real-time copy of data.

Transactional Replication’s Strengths and Use Cases

Strengths include high performance, low latency, and the ability to filter rows and columns thus allowing a high degree of precision when replicating data. Common use cases for transactional replication are data warehousing, reporting servers, and as a method of data distribution across servers.

Prerequisites

Before you start, ensure that:

  • The SQL Server Agent service is running on the Publisher, Distributor, and Subscriber servers.
  • All servers are running compatible versions of SQL Server.
  • sqlcmd is installed on the Distributor server, which allows you to interact with SQL Server from the command line.
  • Proper network connectivity is established between the servers participating in the replication topology.
  • Accounts used for replication agents have necessary permissions on the Publisher, Distributor, and Subscriber databases.

Setting Up Transactional Replication

Step 1: Configure the Distributor

We begin by configuring the Distributor. Launch SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and connect to the instance you want to set as your Distributor. Here are the steps:

right-click the Replication folder and choose &ltConfigure...&gt
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Articles, Data Distribution, data warehousing, Distributor, guide, merge replication, Publication, Publisher, real-world setup, Replication Agents, replication topology, reporting servers, snapshot replication, SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio, Subscriber, transactional replication

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