Alternate Synchronization Partners

Subscribers to merge publications can synchronize with servers other than the Publisher at which the subscription originated. Synchronizing with alternate partners provides the ability for a Subscriber to synchronize data even if the primary Publisher is unavailable. This feature is also useful when mobile Subscribers have access to a faster or more reliable network connection with an alternate synchronization partner.

The following are requirements when using alternate synchronization partners:

• The feature is available only with merge replication.
  
  
• The alternate synchronization partner must have the data and schema required by the subscription.
  
  
• It is recommended that the publication created on the alternate server be a clone of the publication created on the original Publisher.
  
  
• The publication properties must specify that Subscribers can synchronize with other Publishers.
  
  
• For named subscriptions (subscriptions that are not anonymous to the Publisher), the Subscriber must be enabled at the alternate synchronization partner so that the Subscriber can synchronize data with that Publisher. If this is not done, the merge Agent will add the subscription entry at the Publisher automatically.
  
  
• For named subscriptions, a subscription with the same attributes as the subscription at the primary Publisher will be added automatically at the alternate synchronization partner.