Replication Considerations (SQL Server Express)

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express (SQL Server Express) can serve as a Subscriber for all types of replication, providing a convenient way to distribute data to client applications that use SQL Server Express. When using SQL Server Express in a replication topology, consider the following:

• SQL Server Express cannot serve as a Publisher or Distributor.

• For this release, subscriptions must be created through Transact-SQL or Replication Management Objects (RMO). For more information, see the following topics:

  • Replication Transact-SQL programming: How to: Create a Push Subscription (Replication Transact-SQL Programming) and How to: Create a Pull Subscription (Replication Transact-SQL Programming).

  • RMO programming: How to: Create a Push Subscription (RMO Programming) and How to: Create a Pull Subscription (RMO Programming).

• SQL Server Express does not include the SQL Server Agent, which is typically used to run replication agents. If you use push subscription, replication agents run at the Distributor, which will be an instance of SQL Server, so there are options for synchronizing. But if you use a pull subscription, in which agents run at the Subscriber, you must synchronize the subscription by using Windows Synchronization Manager or RMO.

• Windows Synchronization Manager is a tool that is available with Microsoft Windows 2000 and later versions. If SQL Server is running on the same computer as Synchronization Manager, you can do the following:

  • Synchronize a subscription.

  • Reinitialize a subscription.

  • Change the update mode of an updatable transactional subscription.

  For more information about how to synchronize a subscription, see How to: Synchronize a Subscription (Using Windows Synchronization Manager). For more information about Windows Synchronization Manager, see Windows Synchronization Manager in SQL Server 2008 Books Online.

  • Synchronization by using RMO programming: For more information, see How to: Synchronize a Pull Subscription (RMO Programming) and How to: Synchronize a Push Subscription (RMO Programming).