SQL Server Merge Replication Schedule

Question

We're replicating a database between London and Hong Kong using SQL Server 2005 Merge replication. The replication is set to synchronise every one minute and it works just fine. There is however the option to set the synchronisation to be "Continuous". Is there any real difference between replication every one minute and continuously?

The only reason for us doing every one minute rather than continuous in the first place was that it recovered better if the line went down for a few minutes, but this experience was all from SQL Server 2000 so it might not be applicable any more...

Answer 1

We have been trying the continuous replication solution on SQL SERVER 2005 and it appeared to be less efficient than a scheduled solution: as your process is continuous, you will not get all the info related to your passed replications (how many replications failed, how long did the process take, why was the process stopped, how many records were updated, how many database structure modifications were replicated to suscribers, and so on), making the replication follow-up a lot more difficult.

We have also been experiencing troubles while modifying database structure (ALTER TABLE instructions) and/or making bulk updates on one of the databases with continuous replication going on.

Keep you "every minute" synchro as it is and just forget about this "continuous" option.