Need a little advice here. We do some windows mobile development using the .NET Compact framework and SQL CE on the mobile along with a central SQL 2005 database at the customers offices. Currently we synchronize the data using merge replication technology.
Lately we've had some annoying problems with synchronization throwing errors and generally being a bit unreliable. This is compounded by the fact that there seems to be limited information out there on replication issues. This suggests to me that it isn't a commonly used technology.
So, I was just wondering if replication was the way to go for synchronizing data or are there more reliable methods? I was thinking web services maybe or something like that. What do you guys use for this implementing this solution?
Dave
Best Answer
I haven't used replication a great deal, but I have used it and I haven't had problems with it. The thing is, you need to set things up carefully. No matter which method you use you need to decide on the rules governing all of the various possible situations - changes in both databases, etc.
If you are more specific about the "generally being a bit unreliable" then maybe you'll get more useful advice. As it is all I can say is, I haven't had issues with it.
EDIT: Given your response below I'll just say that you can certainly go with a custom replication that uses SSIS or some other method, but there are definitely shops out there using replication successfully in a production environment.