Full replication and incremental replication overview

Key decisions to make when you define a replication set are how much data to include in the initial replication, and how and whether to update the data that has been replicated. The basic option for the initial replication is to do a full replication of the data, but you can also choose to replicate a subset of the data. After the initial replication is complete, it is possible to update the data via another full replication. However, for performance reasons, it is usually best to do incremental replications where the replication only processes records based on whether they are new, modified, or deleted records, or based on other criteria. In addition, to further avoid performance issues, you should not run multiple replications for large data sets concurrently.

Full Replication Options

Options when doing a full (non-incremental) replication include:

  • Replicating all data from the business class.
  • Replicating all data from the business class is affected by the use of an indicator field and by whether the Ignore Indicator On Full Replication check box is selected. If that check box is not selected, then only records where the value of the indicator field matches the "replicate when" value will be replicated. If the check box is selected, then all records are replicated, This enables you to achieve a full replication without having to reset the indicator field in the records.
  • Replicating all data from the business class starting at a specified date in the past. See Setting an earliest data inclusion date and backfilling data.
  • Replicating all data from the business class starting at an earlier date and then with running additional replications that process data from even earlier dates. See Setting an earliest data inclusion date and backfilling data.
  • Performing full re-replications of the data, perhaps because the business class structure has changed, you want to replicate additional fields, you want to export in a different format, and so on.

Incremental Replication Options

Options when doing an incremental replications include:

  • Replicating data from the business class based on what has been added, modified, or deleted since the last replication.
  • Replicating data from the business class based on an indicator field. In this case, incremental replication is applied only to records where the indicator field value equals the "replicate when" value specified in the business class's LPL. (This assumes the Ignore Indicator On Full Replication check box is not selected. If it is selected, then the replication becomes a full replication.)
  • Replicating data from the business class based on both whether a record has been added, modified, or deleted, and on whether the indicator field value equals the "replicate when" value. This option has performance advantages for business classes that contain large amounts of data and where the data is expected to be immutable once replicated. The business class and the replication set definition must meet several conditions. For more information, see the Create Only field documentation in Creating replication sets.