Distributed File System Replication Terminology

DFS uses either the File Replication Service or the Distributed File System Replication service to automatically replicate data contained in DFS folder targets. To understand the replication concepts, you must understand some key DFS replication terminology. Here are some important terms:

. Replication—The process of copying data from a source server folder to a destination server folder.

. Replication connection—The directory object that defines and manages the replication between a sending and receiving replication member server. The replication connection defines the replication schedule, which service will replicate the data, the sending and receiving members, and any bandwidth restrictions for the connection. Each replication connection has only a single sending and receiving replication member.

. Replication member—A server that shares a common replication connection. The receiving replication server receives data from a sending member server specified in the replication connection. The sending replication partner sends data to the receiving member specified in the replication connections.

. Read-only replication folders—Windows Server 2008 R2 introduces support for read-only replicas. This can be useful for auditing, centralized backup, or managing data sets. Only the replication members that are not defined as the primary source can host read-only replication folders. Read-Only Domain Controllers host the SYSVOL as a read-only replication folder. When read-only replication folders exist, it is a best practice to ensure that replication is only one-way to the read-only replication folder.

. Replication group—All the servers, folders, and connections that define a replication set of data.

. Multimaster replication— This defines two-way replication between multiple servers in a replication group. With multimaster replication, data changed on any server in the group will be replicated to every other server in the group.


Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (2010)