Replication Server® maintains replicated data at multiple sites on a network. Organizations with geographically distant sites can use Replication Server to create distributed database applications with better performance and data availability than a centralized database system can provide.
This book introduces distributed database systems built upon replication technology and helps you design a replication system.
The Replication Server Design Guide is for everyone who uses Replication Server. If you are new to Replication Server, begin with this book for an introduction to Replication Server and the applications that use replicated data.
If you are designing a new application for Replication Server, you should read this book before you install the Replication Server software. Use the information in this book to plan your replication system so that you will know where to install the software components that make up your replication system.
The information in this book is organized as follows:
Chapter 1, “Introduction” introduces Replication Server and its features.
Chapter 2, “Application Architecture for Replication Systems” discusses replication system design issues.
Chapter 3, “Implementation Strategies” describes models for implementing your replication system design.
Chapter 4, “Planning for Backup and Recovery” describes the preventive and corrective measures you can use to recover from replication system failures.
Chapter 5, “Introduction to Replication Agents” describes Sybase® Replication Agent™ products that you can use to replicate data from a database that is not an Adaptive Server® Enterprise database.
Chapter 6, “Replicating Data into Non-Adaptive Server Data Servers” describes the replication system components that you need to replicate data into a data server other than Adaptive Server.
Chapter 7, “International Replication Design Considerations” describes how to configure languages, character sets, and sort orders for an international environment.
Appendix A, “Capacity Planning” explains how to estimate the amount of disk space needed for Replication Server partitions.
The Sybase Replication Server documentation set consists of:
The release bulletin for your platform – contains last-minute information that was too late to be included in the books.
A more recent version of the release bulletin may be available on the World Wide Web. To check for critical product or document information that was added after the release of the product CD, use the Sybase Product Manuals.
Installation Guide for your platform – describes installation and upgrade procedures for all Replication Server and related products.
Configuration Guide for your platform – describes configuration procedures for Replication Server and related products.
Getting Started with Replication Server – provides step-by-step instructions for installing and setting up a simple replication system.
ASE-to-ASE Replication Quick Start Guide – provides information for Adaptive Server users who want to set up a Replication Server to replicate data from one Adaptive Server database to another.
New Features Guide – describes the new features in Replication Server.
Administration Guide – contains an introduction to replication systems. This manual includes information and guidelines for creating and managing a replication system, setting up security, recovering from system failures, and improving performance.
Design Guide (this book) – contains information about designing a replication system and integrating heterogeneous data servers into a replication system.
Heterogeneous Replication Guide and the Replication Server Options documentation set – describes how to use Replication Server to replicate data between databases supplied by different vendors.
Reference Manual – contains the syntax and detailed descriptions of Replication Server commands in the Replication Command Language (RCL); Replication Server system functions; Sybase Adaptive Server® commands, system procedures, and stored procedures used with Replication Server; Replication Server executable programs; and Replication Server system tables.
Troubleshooting Guide – contains information to aid in diagnosing and correcting problems in the replication system.
System Tables Diagram – illustrates system tables and their entity relationships in a poster format. Available only in print version.
Replication Manager plug-in help, which contains information about using Sybase Central™ to manage Replication Server.
Use the Sybase Getting Started CD and the Sybase Product Documentation Web site to learn more about your product:
The Getting Started CD contains release bulletins and installation guides in PDF format. It is included with your software. To read or print documents on the Getting Started CD, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download at no charge from the Adobe Web site using a link provided on the CD.
The Sybase Product Documentation Web site is accessible using a standard Web browser. In addition to product documentation, you will find links to EBFs/Maintenance, Technical Documents, Case Management, Solved Cases, newsgroups, and the Sybase Developer Network.
To access the Sybase Product Documentation Web site, go to Product Documentation.
Technical documentation at the Sybase Web site is updated frequently.
Finding the latest information on product certifications
Point your Web browser to Technical Documents.
Click Partner Certification Report.
In the Partner Certification Report filter select a product, platform, and timeframe and then click Go.
Click a Partner Certification Report title to display the report.
Finding the latest information on component certifications
Point your Web browser to Availability and Certification Reports.
Either select the product family and product under Search by Base Product; or select the platform and product under Search by Platform.
Select Search to display the availability and certification report for the selection.
Creating a personalized view of the Sybase Web
site (including support pages)
Set up a MySybase profile. MySybase is a free service that allows you to create a personalized view of Sybase Web pages.
Point your Web browser to Technical Documents.
Click MySybase and create a MySybase profile.
Finding the latest information on EBFs and software
maintenance
Point your Web browser to the Sybase Support Page.
Select EBFs/Maintenance. If prompted, enter your MySybase user name and password.
Select a product.
Specify a time frame and click Go. A list of EBF/Maintenance releases is displayed.
Padlock icons indicate that you do not have download authorization for certain EBF/Maintenance releases because you are not registered as a Technical Support Contact. If you have not registered, but have valid information provided by your Sybase representative or through your support contract, click Edit Roles to add the “Technical Support Contact” role to your MySybase profile.
Click the Info icon to display the EBF/Maintenance report, or click the product description to download the software.
This section describes style and syntax conventions, RCL command formatting conventions, terminology usage, and graphic icons used in this book.
Style conventions Syntax statements (displaying the syntax and options for a command) are printed as follows:
alter user user set password new_passwd [verify password old_passwd]
See “Syntax conventions” for more information.
Examples that show the use of Replication Server commands are printed as follows:
alter user louise set password somNIfic verify password EnnuI
Command names, command option names, program names, program flags, keywords, configuration parameters, functions, and stored procedures are printed as follows:
Use alter user to change the password for a login name.
Variables, parameters to functions and stored procedures, and user-supplied words are in italics in syntax and in paragraph text, as follows:
The set password new_passwd clause specifies a new password.
Names of database objects, such as databases, tables, columns, and datatypes, are in italics in paragraph text, as follows:
The base_price column in the Items table is a money datatype.
Names of replication objects, such as function-string classes, error classes, replication definitions, and subscriptions, are in italics, as follows:
rs_default_function_class is a default function-string class.
Syntax conventions Syntax formatting conventions are summarized in the following table. Examples combining these elements follow.
Key |
Definition |
|---|---|
variable |
Variables (words standing for values that you fill in) are in italics. |
{ }
|
Curly braces mean you must choose at least one of the enclosed options. Do not include braces in the command. |
[ ] |
Brackets mean you may choose or omit enclosed options. Do not include brackets in the command. |
| |
Vertical bars mean you may choose no more than one option (enclosed in braces or brackets). |
, |
Commas mean you may choose as many options as you need (enclosed in braces or brackets). Separate your choices with commas, to be typed as part of the command. Commas may also be required in other syntax contexts. |
( ) |
Parentheses are to be typed as part of the command. |
... |
An ellipsis (three dots) means you may repeat the last unit as many times as you need. Do not include ellipses in the command. |
Curly braces and vertical bars – choose only one option.
{red | yellow | blue}
Curly braces and commas – choose one or more options. If you choose more than one, separate your choices with commas.
{cash, check, credit}
One item in square brackets – choose it or omit it.
[anchovies]
Square brackets and vertical bars – choose none or only one.
[beans | rice | sweet_potatoes]
Square brackets and commas – choose none, one, or more options. If you choose more than one, separate your choices with commas.
[extra_cheese, avocados, sour_cream]
An ellipsis (...) means that you may repeat the last unit as many times as you need. For the alter function replication definition command, for example, you can list one or more parameters and their datatypes for either the add clause or the add searchable parameters clause:
alter function replication definition function_rep_def
{deliver as 'proc_name' |
add @parameter datatype [, @parameter
datatype]... |
add searchable parameters @parameter
[, @parameter]... |
send standby {all | replication definition}
parameters}
RCL commands are similar to Transact-SQL® commands. The following sections present the formatting rules.
You can break a line anywhere except in the middle of a keyword or identifier. You can continue a character string on the next line by typing a backslash (\) at the end of the line.
Extra space characters on a line are ignored, except after a backslash. Do not enter any spaces after a backslash.
You can enter more than one command in a batch, unless otherwise noted.
RCL commands are not transactional. Replication Server executes each command in a batch without regard for the completion status of other commands in the batch. Syntax errors in a command prevent Replication Server from parsing subsequent commands in a batch.
Keywords in RCL commands are not case-sensitive. You can enter them with any combination of uppercase or lowercase letters.
Identifiers and character data may be case-sensitive, depending on the sort order that is in effect.
If you are using a case-sensitive sort order, such as “binary,” you must enter identifiers and character data with the correct combination of uppercase and lowercase letters.
If you are using a sort order that is not case-sensitive, such as “nocase,” you can enter identifiers and character data with any combination of uppercase or lowercase letters.
Identifiers are names you give to servers, databases, variables, parameters, database objects, and replication objects. Database object names include names for tables, columns, and views. Replication object names include names for replication definitions, subscriptions, functions, and publications.
Identifiers can be 1 – 255 bytes long (equivalent to 1 – 255 single-byte characters) and must begin with a letter, the @ sign, or the _ character. See the Replication Server Reference Manual for a list of identifiers that have been extended to 255 bytes.
Replication Server function parameters are the only identifiers that can begin with the @ character. Function parameter names can include 255 characters after the @ character.
After the first character, identifiers can include letters, digits, and the #, $, or _ characters. Spaces are not allowed.
Parameters in function strings have the same rules as identifiers, except:
They are enclosed in question marks (?), allowing Replication Server to locate them in the function string. Use two consecutive question marks (??) to represent a literal question mark in a function string.
The exclamation point (!) introduces a parameter modifier that indicates the source of the data that will be substituted for a parameter at runtime. Refer to the Replication Server Reference Manual for a complete list of modifiers.
Data support Replication Server supports all Adaptive Server datatypes.
User-defined datatypes are not supported. The double precision, nchar, and nvarchar datatypes are indirectly supported by mapping them to other datatypes.
For more information about the supported datatypes, including how to format them, see the Replication Server Reference Manual.
Replication Server supports a set of datatype definitions for non-Sybase data servers that lets you replicate column values of one datatype to a column of a different datatype in the replicate database. See the Replication Server Administration Guide Volume 1 for more information about heterogeneous datatype support (HDS).
In this book, Replication Agent is the generic term used for describing the Replication Agents for Adaptive Server® Enterprise, Oracle, IBM DB2 UDB, and Microsoft SQL Server. The specific names are:
RepAgent – Replication Agent thread for Adaptive Server Enterprise
Replication Agent for ODBC – Replication Agent for IBM DB2 UDB and Microsoft SQL Server
Replication Agent for Oracle – Replication Agent for Oracle
Illustrations in this book use icons to represent the components of a replication system.
Description |
|
|---|---|
 |
This icon represents Replication Server, the Sybase server program maintains replicated data on a local-area network (LAN) and processes data transactions received from other Replication Servers on wide-area network (WAN). |
 |
This icon represents Adaptive Server, the Sybase data server. Data servers manage databases containing primary or replicated data. Replication Server also works with heterogeneous data servers, so, unless otherwise noted, this icon can represent any data server in a replication system. |
 |
This icon represents Replication Agent, a replication system process or module that transfers transaction log information for primary database to a Replication Server. The Replication Agent for Adaptive Server is RepAgent. Sybase provides Replication Agent products for Adaptive Server™ Anywhere, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, and Oracle data servers. Except for RepAgent, which is an Adaptive Server thread, all Replication Agents are separate processes. In general, this icon only appears when representing a Replication Agent that is a separate process. |
 |
This icon represents client application. A client application is a user process or application connected to a data server. It may be a front-end application program executed by a user or a program that executes as an extension of the system. |
 |
This icon represents the Sybase Central Replication Manager plug-in (RM), a management utility that lets a replication system administrator develop, manage, and monitor a Sybase Replication Server environment. |
This document is available in an HTML version that is specialized for accessibility. You can navigate the HTML with an adaptive technology such as a screen reader, or view it with a screen enlarger.
Replication Server HTML documentation have been tested for compliance with U.S. government Section 508 Accessibility requirements. Documents that comply with Section 508 generally also meet non-U.S. accessibility guidelines, such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines for Web sites.
You might need to configure your accessibility tool
for optimal use. Some screen readers pronounce text based on its
case; for example, they pronounce ALL UPPERCASE TEXT as initials,
and MixedCase Text as words. You might find it helpful to configure
your tool to announce syntax conventions. Consult the documentation
for your tool.
For information about how Sybase supports accessibility, see Sybase Accessibility. The Sybase Accessibility site includes links to information on Section 508 and W3C standards.
Each Sybase installation that has purchased a support contract has one or more designated people who are authorized to contact Sybase Technical Support. If you cannot resolve a problem using the documentation or online help, please have the designated person contact Sybase Technical Support or the Sybase subsidiary in your area.
