I’ve been using SQL Server since version 4.21a days. I recall the first version of SQL Server that I ever laid eyes on actually ran on OS/2 rather than a Windows OS back then, although the first version I actually used was on Windows NT. Not long after we implemented our first SQL Server application, version 6 came out and we were happy to upgrade. We were big users of replication and version 6 offered unprecedented features which, at that time, were only available via very expensive third-party tools.
It was an education experience to say the least with many lessons learned the hard way, by making mistakes and then having to stay up all night to fix them. Now, I’m happy to report, there’s a book (and a good one too) that’s dedicated strictly to transactional and snapshot replication. The book is called “A Guide to SQL Server 2000 Transactional & Snapshot Replication” (ISBN 0974973602), written by SQL Server MVP
This is a comprehensive book weighing in at over 1000 pages. And for someone who considered themselves a heavyweight in replication, I still managed to A) learn quite a lot and B) discover many useful Transact-SQL scripts that help in day-to-day management.
You can find a detailed chapter-by-chapter review of the book written by Narayana Vyas Kondreddi (another of my favorite SQL Server MVPs) at http://vyaskn.tripod.com/review_guide_sql_server_2000_transactional_snapshot_replication.htm.
And you can buy the book directly from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0974973602/qid%3D1109454443/sr%3D1-1/ref%3Dsr%5F1%5F1//002-5725219-5076832?v=glance.
If you’re even a casual user of replication, then this book is for you!
Cheers,
-Kevin
