Database Mirroring and Replication (SQL Server)

SQL Server 2012

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Database mirroring can be used in conjunction with replication to improve availability for the publication
database. Database mirroring involves two copies of a single database that typically reside on different
computers. At any given time, only one copy of the database is currently available to clients. This copy is known
as the principal database. Updates made by clients to the principal database are applied on the other copy of the
database, known as the mirror database. Mirroring involves applying the transaction log from every insertion,
update, or deletion made on the principal database onto the mirror database.
Replication failover to a mirror is fully supported for publication databases, with limited support for subscription
databases. Database mirroring is not supported for the distribution database. For information about recovering a
distribution database or subscription database without any need to reconfigure replication, see Back Up and
Restore Replicated Databases. For information about mirroring the subscriber database, see the SQL Server
Replication: Providing High Availability using Database Mirroring.
Note
After a failover, the mirror becomes the principal. In this topic, "principal" and "mirror" always refer to the original principal and mirror.
Requirements and Considerations for Using Replication with Database
Mirroring

Be aware of the following requirements and considerations when using replication with database mirroring:
The principal and mirror must share a Distributor. We recommend that this be a remote Distributor,
which provides greater fault tolerance if the Publisher has an unplanned failover.
The Publisher and Distributor must be Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or a later version. Subscribers can be
any version, but merge replication pull subscriptions from a version prior to SQL Server 2005 do not
support failover; the agent in this case runs at the Subscriber and previous versions of the agent are not
mirror aware. Replication to such Subscribers resumes if the database fails back from the mirror to the
principal.
Replication supports mirroring the publication database for merge replication and for transactional
replication with read-only Subscribers or queued updating Subscribers. Immediate updating Subscribers,
Oracle Publishers, Publishers in a peer-to-peer topology, and republishing are not supported.
Metadata and objects that exist outside the database are not copied to the mirror, including logins, jobs,
linked servers, and so on. If you require the metadata and objects at the mirror, you must copy them
manually. For more information, see Management of Logins and Jobs After Role Switching (SQL Server).
Configuring Replication with Database Mirroring

Configuring replication and database mirroring involves five steps. Each step is described in more detail in the
following section.
1. Configure the Publisher.
2. Configure database mirroring.
3. Configure the mirror to use the same Distributor as the principal.
4. Configure replication agents for failover.
5. Add the principal and mirror to Replication Monitor.
Steps 1 and 2 can also be performed in the opposite order.
To configure database mirroring for a publication database
1. Configure the Publisher:
a. We recommend using a remote Distributor. For more information about configuring
distribution, see Configure Distribution.
b. You can enable a database for snapshot and transactional publications and/or merge
publications. For mirrored databases that will contain more than one type of publication, you
must enable the database for both types at the same node using sp_replicationdboption. For
example, you could execute the following stored procedure calls at the principal:
c. exec sp_replicationdboption @dbname='<PublicationDatabase>',
@optname='publish', @value=true
d. exec sp_replicationdboption @dbname='<PublicationDatabase>',
@optname='mergepublish', @value=true
For more information about creating publications, see Publish Data and Database Objects.
2. Configure database mirroring. For more information, see Establish a Database Mirroring Session Using
Windows Authentication (SQL Server Management Studio)and Setting Up Database Mirroring (SQL
Server).
3. Configure distribution for the mirror. Specify the mirror name as the Publisher, and specify the same
Distributor and snapshot folder that the principal uses. For example, if you are configuring replication
with stored procedures, execute sp_adddistpublisher at the Distributor; and then
execute sp_adddistributor at the mirror. For sp_adddistpublisher:
o Set the value of the @publisher parameter to the network name of the mirror.
o Set the value of the @working_directory parameter to the snapshot folder used by the
principal.
4. Specify the mirror name for the PublisherFailoverPartner agent parameter. Agent This parameter is
required for the following agents to identify the mirror after failover:
o Snapshot Agent (for all publications)
o Log Reader Agent (for all transactional publications)
o Queue Reader Agent (for transactional publications that support queued updating
subscriptions)
o Merge Agent (for merge subscriptions)
o SQL Server replication listener (replisapi.dll: for merge subscriptions synchronized using Web
synchronization)
o SQL Merge ActiveX Control (for merge subscriptions synchronized with the control)
The Distribution Agent and Distribution ActiveX Control do not have this parameter because they do not
connect to the Publisher.
Agent parameter changes take effect the next time the agent is started. If the agent runs continuously,
you must stop and restart the agent. Parameters can be specified in agent profiles and from the
command prompt. For more information, see:
o View and Modify Replication Agent Command Prompt Parameters (SQL Server Management
Studio)
o Replication Agent Executables Concepts
We recommend adding the PublisherFailoverPartner to an agent profile, and then specifying the
mirror name in the profile. For example, if you are configuring replication with stored procedures:
-- Execute sp_help_agent_profile in the context of the distribution
database to get the list of profiles.
-- Select the profile id of the profile that needs to be updated from the
result set.
-- In the agent_type column returned by sp_help_agent_profile:
-- 1 = Snapshot Agent; 2 = Log Reader Agent; 3 = Distribution Agent; 4 =
Merge Agent; 9 = Queue Reader Agent.

exec sp_help_agent_profile;

-- Setting the -PublisherFailoverPartner parameter in the default Snapshot
Agent profile (profile 1).
-- Execute sp_add_agent_parameter in the context of the distribution
database.
exec sp_add_agent_parameter @profile_id = 1, @parameter_name = N'-
PublisherFailoverPartner', @parameter_value = N'<Failover Partner Name>';

-- Setting the -PublisherFailoverPartner parameter in the default Merge
Agent profile (profile 6).
-- Execute sp_add_agent_parameter in the context of the distribution
database.
exec sp_add_agent_parameter @profile_id = 6, @parameter_name = N'-
PublisherFailoverPartner', @parameter_value = N'<Failover Partner Name>';
5. Add the principal and mirror to Replication Monitor. For more information, see Add and Remove
Publishers from Replication Monitor.

How to: Add and Remove Publishers from Replication
Monitor (Replication Monitor)
SQL Server 2008
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The server from which you launch Replication Monitor is automatically added to the monitor if it is a Publisher.
Additional Publishers can be added through the Add Publisherdialog box. After adding a Publisher, it is
displayed in a group in the left pane of the monitor. The My Publishers group is included by default, but you can
create new groups to manage one or more replication topologies. For information about starting Replication
Monitor, see How to: Start Replication Monitor (Replication Monitor).
To add a SQL Server Publisher
1. Right-click the Replication Monitor node or a Publisher group node in the left pane, and then click Add
Publisher.
2. In the Add Publisher dialog box, click Add, and then click Add SQL Server Publisher.
3. In the Connect to Server dialog box, enter the name of the Publisher, and then select the authentication
type. If you select SQL Server Authentication, enter a login and password. The credentials you specify
are saved by Replication Monitor to use when connecting to this server in the future. The Windows
account or SQL Server login specified must be a member of the sysadmin fixed server role or a member
of the replmonitor fixed database role in the distribution database.
4. Click Connect. If the Publisher uses a remote Distributor, you will be prompted to connect to the
Distributor in the Connect to Server dialog box. The credentials you specify are saved by Replication
Monitor to use when connecting to this server in the future. The Windows account or SQL Server login
specified must be a member of the sysadmin fixed server role or a member of the replmonitor fixed
database role in the distribution database.
5. The name of the Publisher and Distributor are displayed in the Start monitoring the following
Publisher(s) grid.
6. To specify refresh and connection options for the Publisher, select the Publisher in the grid, and modify
options as necessary. For more information about refresh options, see Caching, Refresh, and Replication
Monitor Performance.
7. Select the group under which the Publisher should be displayed in Replication Monitor. To create a new
group, click New Group, and then enter a group name; select the group in the Show this Publisher(s)
in the following group list.
8. Click OK.
To add an Oracle Publisher
1. Right-click the Replication Monitor node or a Publisher group node in the left pane, and then click Add
Publisher.
2. In the Add Publisher dialog box, click Add, and then click Add Oracle Publisher.
3. In the Connect to Server dialog box, enter the name of the Microsoft SQL Server Distributor associated
with the Oracle Publisher, and then select the authentication type. If you select SQL Server
Authentication, enter a login and password. The credentials you specify are saved by Replication
Monitor to use when connecting to this server in the future. The Windows account or SQL Server login
specified must be a member of the sysadmin fixed server role or a member of the replmonitor fixed
database role in the distribution database.
4. Click Connect.
5. The name of the Publisher and Distributor are displayed in the Start monitoring the following
Publisher(s) grid.
6. To specify refresh and connection options for the Publisher, select the Publisher in the grid, and modify
options as necessary. For more information about refresh options, see Caching, Refresh, and Replication
Monitor Performance.
7. Select the group under which the Publisher should be displayed in Replication Monitor. To create a new
group, click New Group, and then enter a group name; select the group in the Show this Publisher(s)
in the following group list.
8. Click OK.
To add one or more Publishers that use the same Distributor
1. Right-click the Replication Monitor node or a Publisher group node in the left pane, and then click Add
Publisher.
2. In the Add Publisher dialog box, click Add, and then click Specify a Distributor and Add Its
Publishers.
3. In the Connect to Server dialog box, enter the name of the Distributor, and then select the
authentication type. If you select SQL Server Authentication, enter a login and password. The
credentials you specify are saved by Replication Monitor to use when connecting to this server in the
future. The Windows account or SQL Server login specified must be a member of the sysadmin fixed
server role or a member of the replmonitor fixed database role in the distribution database.
4. Click Connect.
5. The name of the Distributor and each Publisher are displayed in the Start monitoring the following
Publisher(s) grid. If a Publisher has already been added to Replication Monitor, it does not appear in
the grid.
6. To specify refresh and connection options for the Publisher, select the Publisher in the grid, and modify
options as necessary. For more information about refresh options, see Caching, Refresh, and Replication
Monitor Performance.
7. Select the group under which Publishers should be displayed in Replication Monitor. To create a new
group, click New Group, and then enter a group name; select the group in the Show this Publisher(s)
in the following group list.
8. Click OK.
To modify settings for the Publisher and Publisher Groups
1. Right-click a Publisher in the left pane, and then click Publisher Settings.
2. Make any changes in the Publisher Settings dialog box:
o To change the credentials that Replication Monitor uses to connect to a server, click Publisher
Connection or Distributor Connection, and then enter credentials in the Connect to
Server dialog box.
o To move a Publisher from one group to another, select the Publisher in the Start monitoring
the following Publisher(s) grid, and then select the new group in the Show this Publisher(s)
in the following group list.
3. Click OK.
To remove a Publisher from Replication Monitor
1. Right-click a Publisher in the left pane.
2. Click Remove.
To add a Publisher group to Replication Monitor
Publisher groups can be created only when adding a Publisher or modifying settings for a Publisher. See
the how to procedures on adding a Publisher for more information.
To remove a Publisher group from Replication Monitor
1. Move all Publishers to a different group or remove them from Replication Monitor. For more
information, see previous procedures in this topic.
2. Right-click the Publisher group, and then click Remove.


(Contd from current article)
Maintaining a Mirrored Publication Database

Maintaining a mirrored publication database is essentially the same as maintaining a non-mirrored database, with
the following considerations:
Administration and monitoring must occur at the active server. In SQL Server Management Studio,
publications appear under the Local Publications folder only for the active server. For example, if you
failover to the mirror, the publications are displayed at the mirror and are no longer displayed at the
principal. If the database fails over to the mirror, you might need to manually refresh Management
Studio and Replication Monitor for the change to be reflected.
Replication Monitor displays Publisher nodes in the object tree for both the principal and the mirror. If
the principal is the active server, publication information is displayed only under the principal node in
Replication Monitor.
If the mirror is the active server:
o If an agent has an error, the error is indicated only on the principal node, not on the mirror
node.
o If the principal is unavailable, the principal and mirror nodes display identical lists of
publications. Monitoring should be performed on the publications under the mirror node.
When using stored procedures or Replication Management Objects (RMO) to administer replication at
the mirror, for cases in which you specify the Publisher name, you must specify the name of the instance
on which the database was enabled for replication. To determine the appropriate name, use the
functionpublishingservername.
When a publication database is mirrored, the replication metadata stored in the mirrored database is
identical to the metadata stored in the principal database. Consequently, for publication databases
enabled for replication at the principal, the Publisher instance name stored in system tables at the mirror
is the name of the principal, not the mirror. This affects replication configuration and maintenance if the
publication database fails over to the mirror. For example, if you are configuring replication with stored
procedures on the mirror after a failover, and you want to add a pull subscription to a publication
database that was enabled at the principal, you must specify the principal name rather than the mirror
name for the @publisher parameter of sp_addpullsubscription orsp_addmergepullsubscription.
If you enable a publication database at the mirror after failover to the mirror, the Publisher instance
name stored in system tables is the name of the mirror; in this case, you would use the name of the
mirror for the @publisher parameter.
Note
In some cases, such as sp_addpublication, the @publisher parameter is supported only for non-SQL Server Publishers; in
these cases, it is not relevant for SQL Server database mirroring.
To synchronize a subscription in Management Studio after a failover: synchronize pull subscriptions from
the Subscriber; and synchronize push subscriptions from the active Publisher.
Replication Behavior if Mirroring is Removed
Keep the following issues in mind if database mirroring is removed from a published database:
If the publication database at the principal is no longer mirrored, replication continues to work
unchanged against the original principal.
If the publication database fails over from the principal to the mirror and the mirroring relationship is
subsequently disabled or removed, replication agents will not function against the mirror. If the principal
is permanently lost, disable and then reconfigure replication with the mirror specified as the Publisher.
If database mirroring is removed completely, the mirror database is in a recovery state and must be
restored in order to become functional. The behavior of the recovered database with respect to
replication depends on whether the KEEP_REPLICATION option is specified. This option forces the
restore operation to preserve replication settings when restoring a published database to a server other
than that on which the backup was created. Use the KEEP_REPLICATION option only when the other
publication database is unavailable. The option is not supported if the other publication database is still
intact and replicating. For more information about KEEP_REPLICATION, see RESTORE (Transact-SQL).
Log Reader Agent Behavior

The following table describes Log Reader Agent behavior for the various operating modes of database mirroring.
Operating mode Log Reader Agent behavior if the mirror is unavailable
High-safety mode
with automatic
failover
If the mirror is unavailable, the Log Reader Agent propagates commands to the distribution database. The
principal cannot failover to the mirror until the mirror is back online and has all transactions from the
principal.
High-performance
mode
If the mirror is unavailable, the principal database is running exposed (that is, unmirrored). However, the
Log Reader Agent only replicates those transactions that are hardened on the mirror. If service is forced
and the mirror server assumes the role of the principal, the Log Reader Agent will work against the mirror
and start picking up the new transactions.
Be aware that replication latency will increase if the mirror falls behind the principal.
High-safety mode
without automatic
failover
All committed transactions are guaranteed to be hardened to disk on the mirror. The Log Reader Agent
replicates only those transactions that are hardened on the mirror. If the mirror is unavailable, the principal
disallows further activity in the database; therefore the Log Reader Agent has no transactions to replicate.