Figure 6-8 Combined multi-master and cascading replication

6.3 Defining a replication strategy

The replication strategy is determined by the services that must be provided. To determine the replication strategy, start by performing a survey of the network, users, applications, and how they use the directory service.

Assess the resources within the network, the traffic loads, and resource requirements for the directory service.

See “Conducting a replication survey”, “Replication resource requirements”, and “Managing disk space required for multi-master replication”.

If there are multiple consumers for different locations or sections of the company or if some servers are insecure, then use fractional replication to exclude sensitive or seldom-modified information to maintain data integrity without compromising sensitive information.

See “Replicated selected attributes with fractional replication” for more information.

If the network is stretched across a wide geographical area, there are multiple Directory Servers at multiple sites, with local data masters connected by multi-master replication.

See “Replication across a wide-area network” for more information.

If high availability is the primary concern, create a data center with multiple Directory Servers on a single site. Single-master replication provides read-failover, while multi-master replication provides write-failover.

See “Using replication for high availability” for more information.

If local availability is the primary concern, use replication to distribute data geographically to Directory Servers in local offices around the world. A master copy of all information can

82 Designing the replication process