Sybase Replication Server is a real-time enterprise data movement tool widely used for database disaster recovery, real-time reporting and data distribution. Its enterprise-level features and performance have made it an industry standard among the most demanding customers since its introduction more than 20 years ago. The imminent release of Replication Server 15.7 continues pushing envelop and maintaining its leading edge by introducing new Multi-Path Replication (MPR) technology.

So, what is MPR? MPR improves replication performance and reduces latency by enabling parallel paths of data from the source database to the target database. These parallel paths will process data independently of each other to improve overall efficiency, performance and load balancing.

Replication without MPR (Single-path)

Replication without MPR handles transactions one at a time in a serial fashion, which looks like this:

Transactions in this single path of replication can get held up behind another larger transaction, typically a batch job, until the larger transaction is completely replicated. The transaction next in queue could be a higher priority transaction, but it must wait its turn in the queue.

Quality of Service and Performance Improvement with MPR

MPR lets the scenario above handle data via the following deployment topology, with the transactions replicated in parallel along multiple independent paths:

The illustration above shows all three paths replicating side-by-side, without one having to wait for the other to complete. A transaction with higher priority can now replicate in parallel, and doesn’t have to wait for an unrelated larger transaction to complete. This advantage helps users to meet a better Service Level Agreement (SLA) and achieve a higher Quality of Service (QoS).

Employing MPR’s parallel features does not mean compromising the replicated data’s reliability. The disparate transactions traveling over different paths still retain reliability of data that is a hallmark of Replication Server.
MPR’s benefits of same parallelism also apply when replicating over large distances e.g., over Wide-Area Networks spanning different states, countries or continents.

In the illustration above, multiple parallel replicated datasets transit from one Replication Server to another remote Replication Server via multiple routes, before replicating to their intended target. The parallel nature of MPR improves overall performance compared to single-path mode of operation by removing bottlenecks between source and target of replication system.

Load-Balancing with MPR

MPR can also help users to improve performance and reduce latency by better arranging transaction loads across several Replication Servers. In the illustration below, user divides replication process into multiple paths using MPR and routes each path with appropriate transaction profile based on each Replication Server’s work load. By optimizing replication system using load-balancing, user can efficiently replicate more volume within defined operating window without requiring additional hardware cost.

Sybase Replication Server’s addition of MPR further extends leadership by increasing performance, reducing latency and enhancing quality of services. These attributes of MPR are essential to distribute, consolidate and synchronize data in the most demanding environments today.