Article ID: 973643 - Last Review: October 19, 2009 - Revision: 1.3

FIX: The synchronization of a merge publication that uses Web synchronization takes a very long time to finish after the initial synchronization in SQL Server 2005 or in SQL Server 2008

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SYMPTOMS

Consider the following scenario:
  • In Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or in Microsoft SQL Server 2008, you configure a merge publication that uses Web synchronization.
  • You add subscribers that use Web synchronization.
  • You perform the initial Web synchronization.
In this scenario, after you perform the initial synchronization, the next subsequent synchronization may take a very long time to finish. If you examine the dbo.sysmergesubscriptions table after the initial synchronization is completed, you may find that the recgen column for the subscribers has a value of 0. You can run the following statement to examine the recgen column in the dbo.sysmergesubscriptions table on the publisher:
select subscriber_server, sentgen, recgen, db_name from dbo.sysmergesubscriptions where pubid=<Publication ID>
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CAUSE

This slow synchronization performance occurs because the recgen column for a subscriber has a value of 0 during the initial Web synchronization. Therefore, all generations that are stored in the MSmerge_genhistory table must be reprocessed during the upload phase of the next synchronization.
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RESOLUTION

SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3

The fix for this issue was first released in Cumulative Update 6 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3. For more information about this cumulative update package, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
974648  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/974648/LN/ ) Cumulative update package 6 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3
Note Because the builds are cumulative, each new fix release contains all the hotfixes and all the security fixes that were included with the previous SQL Server 2005 fix release. Microsoft recommends that you consider applying the most recent fix release that contains this hotfix. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
960598  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960598/LN/ ) The SQL Server 2005 builds that were released after SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 was released.
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 hotfixes are created for specific SQL Server service packs. You must apply a SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 hotfix to an installation of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3. By default, any hotfix that is provided in a SQL Server service pack is included in the next SQL Server service pack.

The release version of SQL Server 2008

Important You must install this fix if you are running the release version of SQL Server 2008.

The fix for this issue was first released in Cumulative Update 8. For more information about how to obtain this cumulative update package for SQL Server 2008, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
975976  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975976/ ) Cumulative update package 8 for SQL Server 2008
Note Because the builds are cumulative, each new fix release contains all the hotfixes and all the security fixes that were included with the previous SQL Server 2008 fix release. We recommend that you consider applying the most recent fix release that contains this hotfix. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
956909  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956909/ ) The SQL Server 2008 builds that were released after SQL Server 2008 was released

SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1

Important You must install this fix if you are running SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1.

The fix for this issue was first released in Cumulative Update 5 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1. For more information about this cumulative update package, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
975977  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975977/LN/ ) Cumulative update package 5 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1
Note Because the builds are cumulative, each new fix release contains all the hotfixes and all the security fixes that were included with the previous SQL Server 2008 fix release. Microsoft recommends that you consider applying the most recent fix release that contains this hotfix. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
970365  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970365/LN/ ) The SQL Server 2008 builds that were released after SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 was released
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 hotfixes are created for specific SQL Server service packs. You must apply a SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 hotfix to an installation of SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1. By default, any hotfix that is provided in a SQL Server service pack is included in the next SQL Server service pack.
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WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, do not use Web synchronization to perform the initial synchronization. You can use the sp_changemergepullsubscription stored procedure to change the synchronization type by setting the use_web_sync property to False.
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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
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REFERENCES

For more information about how merge replication tracks and enumerates changes, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web site:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms151789.aspx (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms151789.aspx)

For more informationabout how to obtain SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
913089  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913089/ ) How to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005
For more information about the new features in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3 (SP3) and about the improvements in SQL Server 2005 SP3, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=131442 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=131442)
For more information about the naming schema for SQL Server updates, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
822499  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822499/ ) New naming schema for Microsoft SQL Server software update packages
For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: -
824684  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824684/ ) Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Standard X64 Edition
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise X64 Edition
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Developer
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Web
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Workgroup
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Keywords: 
kbqfe kbfix kbsurveynew kbexpertiseadvanced KB973643
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