What is file replication?
To replicate an item is to create a copy or multiple copies of that item. In terms of replicating files this would then assume that you have a source or primary file that you desire to create a single copy or multiple copies of that source file.
How does file synchronization differentiate from file replication?
Many will claim that file replication is a one-way mirroring operation, where an exact replica of a source file is copied to one or more destinations. Others will claim file synchronization is using replication technology and performing it in a multi-directional manner.
If you think of file replication as a one-way push or pull, you can imagine many possible solutions it provides such as file protection & recovery, file distribution, or centralized backups. Many companies utilize data replication technology to backup files to a secondary storage device as part of their disaster recovery plan. However, file replication does not need to be limited to large companies as individual PC users can take advantage of the technology to simply copy and protect their files to an external hard drive.
