A replication path is the set of all servers and internal components where transactions travel through when moving from the primary to the replicate database. Replication may occur over a single path from primary to replicate, or over multiple paths.
The traditional replication in a Replication Server is over a single path. It is a single connection from primary database to primary Replication Server, a single connection from primary Replication Server to replicate Replication Server, and a single connection from replicate Replication Server to the replicate database. The single replication path always maintains transaction commit order.
To increase replication throughput and performance, and reduce contention, Replication Server 15.7 and later also use multiple replication paths. Multi-Path Replication™ supports the replication of data from a single primary database through different paths or streams, while still maintaining transaction commit order within a path, but not across paths.
A replication path encompasses all the components and modules between the Replication Server and the primary and replicate databases. In multipath replication, there are multiple primary replication paths for multiple Replication Agent connections from a single primary database to one or more Replication Servers, and multiple replicate paths from one or more Replication Servers to a single replicate database.
Multiple primary replication paths can exist from the primary database to one or more Replication Servers. Each primary path consists of a RepAgent path and an associated Replication Server primary connection. You can view multiple RepAgent threads in the Adaptive Server Monitor's Replication Agent view, where it shows all the controlling Replication Servers for a RepAgent thread.
Multiple dedicated routes can exist between Replication Servers to increase the throughput of the Distributor (DIST) thread. A dedicated route distributes only transactions for a specific primary connection.
You can view the dedicated routes in the Replication Topology view and in the Replication Server Monitor Routes view.
See Replication Server Administration Guide Volume 2 > Performance Tuning > Multi-Path Replication.