Replication

A public folder can be configured to have replicas on multiple public folder servers. Replicas are useful for distributing the user load on servers, distributing public folders geographically, and backing up public folder data. All replicas of a public folder are equal; that is, there is no master replica. The process of keeping replicas up to date is called public folder replication. During public folder replication, the public folder hierarchy is replicated to every server, but the contents are replicated only to servers on which replicas have been set up by an administrator. When a user creates a public folder, its location in the hierarchy is replicated to every server. If the new public folder is a top-level folder, the contents of the new folder are on the user's public folder server. If the new public folder is not a top-level folder, the contents are located on every server on which the parent folder's contents reside.

During replication, changes made to items in a replica are sent to all other replicas of the public folder throughout the organization. Changes made to the folder, the folder's properties, or the public folder hierarchy are replicated to all servers. When you no longer want a public folder replica, you can delete it from its database.

When more than one replica of a public folder exists, connections users make are distributed across all replicas in an organization. If there is a replica of the folder on the user's public folder server, the first connection attempted is to that replica. If a connection to the replica cannot be made because a server is unavailable or because a network connection cannot be made, a connection to a different server in the organization is attempted. If routing group connectors enable public folder referrals, connections to other servers are attempted.

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