Replication terminology

Some terminology used in describing replication:

Cascading replication
A replication topology in which there are multiple tiers of servers. A peer/master server replicates to a set of read-only (forwarding) servers which in turn replicate to other servers. Such a topology off-loads replication work from the master servers.
Consumer server
A server which receives changes through replication from another (supplier) server.
Credentials
Identify the method and required information that the supplier uses in binding to the consumer. For simple binds, this includes the DN and password. The credentials are stored in an entry the DN of which is specified in the replication agreement.
Forwarding server
A read-only server that replicates all changes sent to it by a master or peer. Client update requests are referred to the master or peer server.
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Gateway server
A server that forwards all replication traffic from the local replication site where it resides to other gateway servers in the replicating network. A gateway server receives replication traffic from other gateway servers within the replication network, which it forwards to all servers on its local replication site. Gateway servers must be masters (writable).
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Master server
A server which is writable (can be updated) for a given subtree.
Nested subtree
A subtree within a replicated subtree of the directory.
Peer server
The term used for a master server when there are multiple masters for a given subtree.
Replica group
The first entry created under a replication context has objectclass ibm-replicaGroup and represents a collection of servers participating in replication. It provides a convenient location to set ACL's to protect the replication topology information. The administration tools currently support one replica group under each replication context, named ibm-replicagroup=default.
Replica subentry
Below a replica group entry, one or more entries with objectclass ibm-replicaSubentry can be created; one for each server participating in replication as a supplier. The replica subentry identifies the role the server plays in replication: master or read-only. A read-only server might, in turn, have replication agreements to support cascading replication.
Replicated subtree
A portion of the DIT that is replicated from one server to another. Under this design, a given subtree can be replicated to some servers and not to others. A subtree can be writable on a given server, while other subtrees might be read-only.
Replicating Network
A network that contains connected replication sites.
Replication agreement
Information contained in the directory that defines the 'connection' or 'replication path' between two servers. One server is called the supplier (the one that sends the changes) and the other is the consumer (the one that receives the changes). The agreement contains all the information needed for making a connection from the supplier to the consumer and scheduling replication.
Replication context
Identifies the root of a replicated subtree. The ibm-replicationContext auxiliary object class can be added to an entry to mark it as the root of a replicated area. The replication topology related information is maintained in a set of entries created below a replication context.
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Replication site
A Gateway server and any master, peer, and replica servers configured to replicate together.
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Schedule
Replication can be scheduled to occur at particular times, with changes on the supplier accumulated and sent in a batch. The replica agreement contains the DN for the entry that supplies the schedule.
Supplier server
A server which sends changes to another (consumer) server.