Decision-support clients and production online transaction processing (OLTP) clients use data in different ways. Decision-support clients execute lengthy queries that hold locks on tables to guarantee serial consistency. OLTP clients, on the other hand, execute transactions that must complete quickly and cannot accept the delays caused by decision-support clients’ data locks. The two types of clients do not interfere with each other if they maintain separate copies of replicated tables.
Replication Server off-loads processing associated with decision-support applications from a centralized online transaction processing application onto local servers. The primary database manages the transaction processing, and the replicate databases at local sites handle requests for information from decision-support clients. Providing a separate, reference-only copy of the data allows OLTP systems to continue unobstructed.
Multiple copies of tables containing primary data used in decision-support applications can be maintained at a single site or at multiple sites over the network.
