Database Replication Solutions

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Database replication is the process of sharing data or database design changes between databases in different locations without having to copy the entire database. Replication involves copying a database so that two or more copies of a single database remain synchronized. The original database is called a Design Master and each copy of the database is called a replica. Together, the Design Master and the replicas make up a replica set. There is only one Design Master in a replica set. The Design Master is the only member of the replica set in which you can make design changes to the objects in the database. Each member of the replica set contains a common set of replicable objects, such as tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, or modules. Each member of the replica set can also contain nonreplicated — or local — tables and queries. In previous versions of Access, you can create any database object and save it locally in any member of a replica set, but in Access 2000, the only objects that can be kept as local objects are tables and queries. In Access 2000, you can create new forms, reports, macros, and modules only in the Design Master, and those objects will be replicated to other members of the replica set. This is due to a change in the way Access 2000 stores Access-specific objects.

Synchronization is the process of ensuring that every copy of the database contains the same objects and data. When you synchronize the replicas in a replica set, only the data that has changed is updated. You can also synchronize changes made to the design of the objects in the Design Master.

If you design your solutions for multiple users, then database replication, in the appropriate circumstances, can improve the way your users share data. By using database replication, you can make copies of a database so that two or more users can work on their own copy of the database at the same time and each user's changes are passed on to other members of the replica set through synchronization.