Data Flow

This article explains data flows in Management Pack for SQL Server Replication.

Logical Structure

Publication Flow

Replication Database Health

Virtual Distributor Level Structure

Replication Agents

The following table lists replication agent files located in the \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\COM directory.

Agent Executable	File Name
Replication Snapshot Agent	snapshot.exe
Replication Distribution Agent	distrib.exe
Replication Log Reader Agent	logread.exe
Replication Queue Reader Agent	qrdrsvc.exe
Replication Merge Agent	replmerg.exe

Replication Maintenance Jobs

In addition to replication agents, replication has many jobs that perform scheduled and on-demand maintenance operations.

Clean up job	Description	Default schedule
Agent History Clean Up: Distribution	Removes replication agent history from the distribution database.	Runs every 10 minutes
Distribution Clean Up: Distribution	Removes replicated transactions from the distribution database. Deactivates subscriptions that haven't been synchronized within the maximum distribution retention period.	Runs every 10 minutes
Expired Subscription Clean Up	Detects and removes expired subscriptions from publication databases.	Runs every day at 1:00 A.M.
Reinitialize Subscriptions Having Data Validation Failures	Detects all subscriptions that have data validation failures and marks them for reinitialization. The next time the Merge Agent or Distribution Agent runs, a new snapshot will be applied at the Subscribers.	No default schedule (not enabled by default).
Replication Agents Checkup	Detects replication agents that aren't actively logging history. It writes to the Microsoft Windows event log if a job step fails.	Runs every 10 minutes.
Replication monitoring refresher for distribution	Refreshes cached queries used by Replication Monitor.	Runs continuously.

Virtual Publisher Level Structure

Virtual Subscriber Level Structure