Replication Options

Replication options allow you to configure replication in a manner best suited to your application and environment.

Option	Type of Replication	Benefits
Filtering Published Data	Snapshot Replication Transactional Replication Merge Replication	Filters allow you to create vertical and/or horizontal partitions of data that can be published as part of replication. By distributing partitions of data to different Subscribers, you can: Minimize the amount of data sent over the network. Reduce the amount of storage space required at the Subscriber. Customize publications and applications based on individual Subscriber requirements. Reduce conflicts because the different data partitions can be sent to different Subscribers.
Updatable Subscriptions (Immediate Updating, Queued Updating)	Snapshot Replication Transactional Replication	Immediate updating and queued updating options allow users to update data at the Subscriber and either propagate those updates to the Publisher immediately or store the updates in a queue. Updatable subscriptions are best for replication topologies where replicated data is mostly read, and occasionally updated at the Subscriber when Publisher, Distributor, and Subscriber are connected most of the time and when conflicts caused by multiple users updating the same data are infrequent.
Updatable Subscriptions (Merge Replication)	Merge Replication	Merge replication allows users to update data at the Subscriber or Publisher and synchronize changes continuously, on-demand, or at scheduled intervals. Merge replication is well suited for topologies where replicated data is frequently updated at the Subscriber even when the Subscriber is disconnected from the Publisher. Conflicts caused by multiple users updating the same data should be infrequent, but merge replication provides a rich set of options for handling conflicts that do occur. For more information, see Merge Replication.
Transforming Published Data	Snapshot Replication Transactional Replication	You can leverage the data movement, transformation mapping and filtering capabilities of Data Transformation Services (DTS) during replication. With transformable subscriptions, you can: Create custom partitions for snapshot and transactional publications. Transform the data as it is being published with data type mappings (for example, integer to real data type), column manipulations (for example, concatenating first name and last name columns into one), string manipulations, and functions.
Alternate Synchronization Partners	Merge Replication	Alternate synchronization partners allow merge Subscribers to synchronize data with servers other than the Publisher at which the subscription originated. This allows the Subscriber to synchronize data when the original Publisher is unavailable, and is also useful for mobile Subscribers that may have access to a faster or more reliable network connection with an alternate server.
Optimizing Synchronization	Merge Replication	By optimizing synchronization during merge replication, you can store more information at the Publisher instead of transferring that information over the network to the Subscriber. This improves synchronization performance over a slow network connection, but requires additional storage at the Publisher.