Syniti Blog

9 Things to Look for in a Data Replication Solution

Written by Syniti | February 4, 2022 at 5:34 PM

More and more enterprises today are recognizing the need for highly available, fresh, accurate data, and turning to advanced data replication solutions for the answer. And while many data replication solutions include capabilities like Change Data Capture (CDC) to help migrate large databases, not many are equipped to address the scale and complexity enterprises manage on a daily basis. Modern data replication solutions must account for each company’s unique infrastructure – today, and in the future.  

So, what goes on behind the scenes of some of the most powerful data replications solutions out there? Here are the top criteria you need to keep in mind when investing in data replication solutions.  

What to Look for in a Data Replication Solution 

1. Log-Based CDC 


Because CDC is most efficient when applied through transactional log-reading, look for options that support log-reading for many different databases and can support bi-directional synchronization in real-time. Syniti Data Replication, for example, uses log-based CDC when ingesting from major enterprise databases including IBM Db2, Informix, PortgreSQL or SQL Server, and much more. It minimizes CPU overhead on sources and does not require application changes or substantial management overhead to maintain the solution.
 

2. Heterogeneous Integration
 

Syniti’s near real-time data replication is not limited to databases and the CDC method.  

With Syniti Data Replication, you can merge real-time transactional data from OLTP systems with real-time log data, enterprise messaging systems, metadata, NoSQL, and Hadoop data to obtain rich, comprehensive, and reliable information about your business. 

3. Maintains Transactional Context 


When ingesting the change data from database logs, Syniti moves committed transactions while maintaining the transactional context. Throughout the whole data movement, processing, and delivery steps, this transactional context is preserved so that users can create reliable replica databases.

4. In-Flight Transformations 


Out-of-the-box transformers and in-memory stream processing capabilities filter, aggregate, mask, transform, and enrich change data while it is in motion. Using SQL-based continuous queries, Syniti immediately turns changed data into a consumable format for end-users, without losing transactional context.
 

5. Mission-Critical Reliability 


As the data moves and gets processed through the in-memory components of the Syniti platform, every operation is recorded and tracked by the solution. If there is an outage, Syniti can replay the transactions from where it was left off—without missing data or having duplicates. Built-in recovery using a Syniti cluster ensures mission-critical reliability.

6. Built-In Data Validation 


The platform continuously compares the source and the target systems as the data is moving, validating that the databases are consistent and that all the changed data has been applied to the target. In use cases where data loss must be avoided, such as migration to a new cloud data store, this feature immensely minimizes migration risks.
 

7. Cloud and On-Premise Change Delivery 


With the same software, Syniti Data Replication can deliver CDC in real-time not only to on-premise databases, but also to databases running in places like cloud or cloud services, messaging systems and files, Hadoop or NoSQL environments.
 

Syniti’s integration data flow applications can have multiple targets with concurrent real-time data delivery. 

8. Machine-Learning (ML) Based Status Monitoring with Automated, Predicative Notifications  


Built-in notifications help keep systems such as cloud-based analytics environments up to date with on-premise databases so you can focus on other tasks. Remote administration of the Syniti Data Replication Agent keeps taps on status updates and errors when you can’t.
 

9. Zero-code or low-code  


Advanced data replication solutions provide the option for zero or low-code environments so that no programming is needed on source or target systems. Low-touch configurability means point-and-click customizations no matter your skillset. 
 

High Standards for Highly-Available Data 

When it comes to data quality, enterprises today need highly stable, highly available production systems. Data replication solutions need to grow beyond simply moving data between technologies. In order to meet the needs of global enterprises, data replication solutions need to be powerful, flexible, and configurable. 

Data replication solutions can no longer lean on the organizations shape or source of their data as an excuse for low-quality results. Whatever the case may be, your data replication and quality solutions should be positioned to help you and the business achieve operational productivity and efficiency, optimized time-to-insights, and reduced costs.

To learn more about Syniti Data Replication, click here.

For more news and thought leadership from Syniti, visit our blog at blog.syniti.com.