SQL Server Replication

Question

What is difference between 3 type of replication? Is replication suitable for data archiving? What is the replication steps?

Answer 1

Following are the three types of replication in SQL server.

1. Transactional replication
2. Merge replication
3. Snapshot replication

For more See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms152531.aspx

Replication can be used for archiving purposes as well but with some additional mechanisms. Most of the time I have seen, it is used in data warehousing scenarios to reduce load on the OLTP system.

Answer 2

See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms151198.aspx

Answer 3

From MSDN:

Transactional replication is typically used in server-to-server scenarios that require high throughput, including: improving scalability and availability; data warehousing and reporting; integrating data from multiple sites; integrating heterogeneous data; and offloading batch processing. Merge replication is primarily designed for mobile applications or distributed server applications that have possible data conflicts. Common scenarios include: exchanging data with mobile users; consumer point of sale (POS) applications; and integration of data from multiple sites. Snapshot replication is used to provide the initial data set for transactional and merge replication; it can also be used when complete refreshes of data are appropriate. With these three types of replication, SQL Server provides a powerful and flexible system for synchronizing data across your enterprise.

There are lots of other articles on the Internet and lots of good books on SQL Server. It's a bit of a broad question to ask what it is AND how to implement it.