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Snapshot Replication

Snapshot replication distributes data as it appears at a specific moment without monitoring updates, generating and sending the entire snapshot to Subscribers during synchronization. It is most suitable for infrequent data changes, small data volumes, or when substantial changes occur over short periods. The Snapshot Agent manages the snapshot generation process, while the Distribution Agent delivers the snapshots to Subscribers, with specific behaviors depending on the type of replication used.

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2 views5 pages

Snapshot Replication

Snapshot replication distributes data as it appears at a specific moment without monitoring updates, generating and sending the entire snapshot to Subscribers during synchronization. It is most suitable for infrequent data changes, small data volumes, or when substantial changes occur over short periods. The Snapshot Agent manages the snapshot generation process, while the Distribution Agent delivers the snapshots to Subscribers, with specific behaviors depending on the type of replication used.

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RK
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Snapshot Replication

THIS TOPIC APPLIES TO: SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure
SQL Data Warehouse Parallel Data Warehouse

Snapshot replication distributes data exactly as it appears at a specific


moment in time and does not monitor for updates to the data. When
synchronization occurs, the entire snapshot is generated and sent to
Subscribers.
Note
Snapshot replication can be used by itself, but the snapshot process (which
creates a copy of all of the objects and data specified by a publication) is
also commonly used to provide the initial set of data and database objects
for transactional and merge publications.

Using snapshot replication by itself is most appropriate when one or more of


the following is true:

 Data changes infrequently.


 It is acceptable to have copies of data that are out of date with respect
to the Publisher for a period of time.
 Replicating small volumes of data.
 A large volume of changes occurs over a short period of time.

Snapshot replication is most appropriate when data changes are


substantial but infrequent. For example, if a sales organization
maintains a product price list and the prices are all updated at the same
time once or twice each year, replicating the entire snapshot of data
after it has changed is recommended. Given certain types of data, more
frequent snapshots may also be appropriate. For example, if a relatively
small table is updated at the Publisher during the day, but some latency
is acceptable, changes can be delivered nightly as a snapshot.

Snapshot replication has a lower continuous overhead on the Publisher


than transactional replication, because incremental changes are not
tracked. However, if the dataset set being replicated is very large, it will
require substantial resources to generate and apply the snapshot.
Consider the size of the entire data set and the frequency of changes to
the data when evaluating whether to utilize snapshot replication.

In this topic

How Snapshot Replication Works


Snapshot Agent

Distribution and Merge Agents

How Snapshot Replication Works


By default, all three types of replication use a snapshot to initialize
Subscribers. The SQL Server Snapshot Agent always generates the snapshot
files, but the agent that delivers the files differs depending on the type of
replication being used. Snapshot replication and transactional replication use
the Distribution Agent to deliver the files, whereas merge replication uses
the SQL Server Merge Agent. The Snapshot Agent runs at the Distributor. The
Distribution Agent and Merge Agent run at the Distributor for push
subscriptions, or at Subscribers for pull subscriptions.

Snapshots can be generated and applied either immediately after the


subscription is created or according to a schedule set at the time the
publication is created. The Snapshot Agent prepares snapshot files
containing the schema and data of published tables and database objects,
stores the files in the snapshot folder for the Publisher, and records tracking
information in the distribution database on the Distributor. You specify a
default snapshot folder when you configure a Distributor, but you can specify
an alternate location for a publication instead of or in addition to the default.

In addition to the standard snapshot process described in this topic, a two-


part snapshot process is used for merge publications with parameterized
filters.

The following illustration shows the principal components of snapshot


replication.
Snapshot Agent
For merge replication, a snapshot is generated every time the Snapshot
Agent runs. For transactional replication, snapshot generation depends on
the setting of the publication property immediate_sync. If the property is set
to TRUE (the default when using the New Publication Wizard), a snapshot is
generated every time the Snapshot Agent runs, and it can be applied to a
Subscriber at any time. If the property is set to FALSE (the default when
using sp_addpublication), the snapshot is generated only if a new
subscription has been added since the last Snapshot Agent run; Subscribers
must wait for the Snapshot Agent to complete before they can synchronize.
The Snapshot Agent performs the following steps:

1. Establishes a connection from the Distributor to the Publisher, and then


takes locks on published tables if necessary:

 For merge publications, the Snapshot Agent does not take any
locks.
 For transactional publications, by default the Snapshot Agent take
locks only during the initial phase of snapshot generation.
 For snapshot publications, locks are held during the entire snapshot
generation process.
2. Writes a copy of the table schema for each article to a .sch file. If other
database objects are published, such as indexes, constraints, stored
procedures, views, user-defined functions, and so on, additional script
files are generated.
3. Copies the data from the published table at the Publisher and writes the
data to the snapshot folder. The snapshot is generated as a set of bulk
copy program (BCP) files.
4. For snapshot and transactional publications, the Snapshot Agent
appends rows to the MSrepl_commands and MSrepl_transactions tables
in the distribution database. The entries in the MSrepl_commands table
are commands indicating the location of .sch and .bcp files, any other
snapshot files, and references to any pre- or post-snapshot scripts. The
entries in the MSrepl_transactions table are commands relevant to
synchronizing the Subscriber.

For merge publications, the Snapshot Agent performs additional steps.

5. Releases any locks on published tables.

During snapshot generation, you cannot make schema changes on


published tables. After the snapshot files are generated, you can view
them in the snapshot folder using Windows Explorer.

Distribution Agent and Merge Agent


For snapshot publications, each time the Distribution Agent runs for the
publication, it moves a new snapshot to each Subscriber that has not yet
been synchronized, has been marked for reinitialization, or includes new
articles.

For snapshot and transactional replication, the Distribution Agent performs


the following steps:

1. Establishes a connection to the Distributor.


2. Examines the MSrepl_commands and MSrepl_transactions tables in the
distribution database on the Distributor. The agent reads the location of
the snapshot files from the first table and Subscriber synchronization
commands from both tables.
3. Applies the schema and commands to the subscription database.

For an unfiltered merge replication publication, the Merge Agent


performs the following steps:

4. Establishes a connection to the Publisher.


5. Examines the sysmergeschemachange table on the Publisher and
determines whether there is a new snapshot that should be applied at
the Subscriber.
6. If a new snapshot is available, the Merge Agent applies to the
subscription database the snapshot files from the location specified
in sysmergeschemachange.

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