Database Replication and the Optimized Products and Tools

Before diving into the database replication products, it is necessary to understand what is database replication.

Replication is the process where data is copied from a central database to one or multiple databases. The source or the central database is known as the publisher as it provides data to users at various sites. The data in the publication database is replicated to subscription databases in other locations. All users, regardless of whether connected to a publisher or subscriber see the same data and work with the same records. A Subscriber connected at a remote site may be a file server or a laptop which is a disconnected Subscriber.

What are data replication products?

Replication products help to support disaster data recovery and resilience, data security, and business community by quickly replicating data in a location that is independent of the source. The software centrally manages the replication policy across heterogeneous sources and targets. Replication products are not the same as data backups as they frequently update changed databases at predefined periods.

Data replication products and tools ensure that data consistency is maintained for end-users accessing multiple data stores during their usual course of work.One benefit is that during replication, the source database is fully functional thereby doing away with the need for downtime which upsets operating schedules in large data-driven enterprises. Multi-site data replication makes sure that during an outage, business continuity is maintained as secondary servers are automatically triggered. Given these benefits, replication of data has now become an integral part of data retention and archiving.

In recent times, replication products provide transactional data delivery in real-time and integrate into data lakes to support data initiatives. Top providers of replication products assure recovery and failover of data at all times, data policy compliance, and continuous data replication with negligible data loss. They focus on guaranteeing minimum disruption of connectivity and low bandwidth consumption without additional cost to security. Leading providers also facilitate change tracking within databases (Change Data Capture).

There are several features to look for in advanced replication products. These include -

· Replication Continually with multiple recovery points

· Cross-platform replication

· Replication of databases in remote locations

· Automated compliance-based data retention

· Immediate failover and triggering of secondary databases during outage

· Zero data loss and synchronized data replication

· Asynchronous data replication for high performance

· Simultaneous data replication and migration

· Performing separate analytics with multiple data sets.

Apart from these features, some factors should be kept in mind when selecting top data replication products. The critical point to consider is the number of sources that data has to be replicated from or to. All replication products cannot manage high volumes of varied targets optimally. It is advisable to evaluate the specifications of each product to ensure that they can easily handle your data scope. Always make sure that you are paying for required level of functionality.