Data replication is essential for companies that want to access real-time copies of their original through various locations. The replication process is done through data replication software that works with your company's database and it can be conducted through various methods. But here's the thing - sometimes companies make too many copies of their data and, depending on the way they've done replication, some copies may be useless. How? By being not updated enough and ending up just taking up server space for no reason. If you pick a data replication method that doesn't really work efficiently for your case and it just creates useless copies of data, it can lead to data duplication. This should be avoided because it takes up space you could be using and you'd be paying basically for nothing if you use the data replication software so inefficiently.
Data duplication either happens when your business is expanding and using more and more systems for different things that create copies of the data at certain periods of time, or you're just copying it and not really doing anything with it. Then the duplicated data can really cause a heavy load on your servers, but it can also lead to the slowing of your workflow as well as inaccurate reports. You don't want any of that if you want to expand your business and manage its data efficiently. That's why you should avoid data duplication - multiple useless copies of data. But you can still benefit from data replication, as it offers broad access as well as ready-to-use updated backup. My advice - just make sure you're using the software you're paying for for its right purposes and don't just leave it to make endless copies of your data that will slow down your whole business.
As with every action for your data, data replication does have its benefits as well as disadvantages. If you ask me, the advantages are more.
The advantages of data replication are:
Creating a ready-to-access and always-available copy of your data
You can enhance the resilience of your system by storing data at multiple sites across the network
You can be sure that data modifications are reflected in the copies, unlike backups that are pretty much static replicas
And as for disadvantages:
Some data replication softwares support too few databases so you have to learn whether yours is among them before making a deal
Compared to a centralized system where your data is located in a single place, you'll need more storage
I personally don't see any disadvantages to data replication. My company uses a data replication software - HVR, if you're curious - to allow several members from different locations to access real-time copies of our main data at the same time. You can use it for that, as it serves this purpose perfectly, but another advantage of data replication is that it serves as a backup if something goes wrong at some point. It's better than regular backup, actually, since it's done almost in real-time and you can access the most recent copies asap. So if you have a bigger organization, I don't see any reasons why you wouldn't want to be replicating your data. Just make sure the software you pick is compatible with your database, btw, as some have limited reach, but other than that you can enjoy many benefits.
Windows Server Replication service is compatible for this solution.
Goodsync is for home use. It doesn't support Solaris SPARC Platform. I am looking for a enterprise solution apart from Symantec.
Thanks.
Symantec? Goodsync?