> I know this is a real stupid question. What is a replicator? How is it
> different from, for example, backing up or a shadow?

If replication is working well, then two or more copies of a
database can exist in different office sites, and all handle
local traffic, while the replication handles the inter site
traffic, and only passes changes commited to the database to
keep all copies in sync.

I have a simple 'replication' system where local copies of
data specific to each site are located on the local servers,
and only changes are passed back to the main copy on the
network server.

All this differs from backup and shadow in that the
replicated copies are all used by clients, while a backup or
shadow is only used if the main copy becomes corrupt.

--
Lester Caine
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L.S.Caine Electronic Services