This is a follow-up to my earlier article on the MaxDB Synchronization Manager. In the months since my prior article, the Synchronization Manager has proved itself production ready and capable of replicating real-world databases in demanding scenarios.

Take the following as theoretical and emperical examples of such scenarios (not necessarily in that order):

i) For its yearly trade show, a company needs to process user registration. Because of the high volume of attendees, there must be more than one system through which registration takes place. Therefore, the registration software is to run on multiple separate laptops. At the end of each day, the laptops synchronize their registration information with each other and a master registration database.

ii) In order to reduce human error and increase efficiency, a grocery store decides to automate their cash register’s reconciliation process. To that end, groceries are scanned and recorded in a database at the register. When the operator’s shift is over, cash drawer and console are taken to the back office where the contents of the cash drawer are compared with the records of the database. Also at this time, the console’s database is synchronized with the store’s master database.

iii) A restaurant, in order to reduce the learning curve for its wait staff, decides to provide each wait person with an order-taking device. The wait person takes down orders using the device and returns to the kitchen. When the device is docked, the order is synchronized with the master database, which in turn presents the new orders to the cooks for preparation.

In short, the Synchronization Manager performs well as a means for keeping track of data “in the field” and keeping distributed environments in synch with their disparate parts. For the virtual company comprised mainly of “road warriors” who are only connected for short periods of time, the Synchronization Manager can be used to automatically bring the rest of the enterprise abreast of recent happenings.

For the gearheads in the audience who wish to kick the tires and check under the hood, I’ve created a wiki entry documenting some of my experiences with the Synchronization Manager. Please feel free to review and contribute:

http://wiki.colliertech.org/index.php/MaxDB:SynchMan:Create_Synchronization_Scenario