I need to copy data from branch offices to a central server and it seems that "Multiple Publishers to one Subscriber" topology is the best solution. But I have several questions.
Is it correct that Merge replication cannot be used in this case, only Transactional (with each branch office as a publisher and central server as a subscriber)?
I plan to have distinct ranges of identity columns on every remote server. Do I need to add filters to every article (e.g. ID between a and b) in order to avoid deleting data on central server when replication on a new office server is configured?
I'm not sure whether the servers will be connected all the time. I was thinking about transactional replication with queued updates. Is it a correct solution? How do I implement it? Does it allow the servers to be disconnected for some period of time and synchronize data when they are connected again?
Is there a way to implement such replication on the central server as Merge replication with kind of "upload-only" articles (from branch office to the central server)? This would simplify the whole process but I'm not sure whether "upload-only" option is available - I've seen "download-only" option.
Mark