Mirror Technology

What is the Mirror Technology?

The Mirror feature empowers you to detect updates in e.g. MS Dynamics AX in an easy and efficient way. It is typically used when dealing with integrations where systems like MS Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (AX) are involved. The Mirror feature will automatically create a mirror (or you can say a copy) of the source table that you are reading from and it will always keep this mirror up-to-date. The mirror will be used to compare what data has been changed and only the changes or added records will then be sent to the other system.

Easy detecting of updates inside MS Dynamics AX without any custom coding in AX

Updates inside MS Dynamics AX are hard to detect as you do not have a timestamp field in order to detect the changes made. This means that you are normally obliged to do some extra programming inside AX to be able to detect the changed and new records. Adding the extra code can be a lot of work, as you have to identify all places where e.g. a customer can be changed; this includes not only the user interface but also reports, imports, and other programs updating the system from the outside. Additionally, the code has to be maintained by programmers in the years to come. This issue is solved without any code by taking advantage of the Rapidi Mirror Technology. All you have to do is to create an empty SQL database in which RapidiOnline automatically creates a "mirror" table that is used to detect changes in your live data. So, there you have it; easy detection of updates in e.g. MS Dynamics AX by just turning on this Mirror feature inside your RapidiOnline Service instead of having to "code" your way out of it - saving you a lot of work and time.

Efficient Data Transfer on large data volume

Some of our customers have a large amount of data already residing in their systems and to run an efficient integration it is critical only to transfer the new and changed records. Using the mirror feature allows for only transferring the changed data. If you have e.g. an MS Dynamics AX database that contains 400.000 customer records but you only have 200 updates a day, RapidiOnline only transfers the 200 changed records when using the mirror technology. In that way, you are able to sync a lot of data quickly and efficiently without putting a severe load on the system. Furthermore, it gives you the ability to transfer data more frequently.

The Mirror feature was very important to us as we have quite a large amount of data to be synchronized fairly frequently. The Mirror Technology is a very powerful feature as it allows for frequent updates (down to 5 minutes) as it will detect the changes and only transfer these. 

Setup

1. Firstly, for you to get started you need to create an empty MS SQL database - it can either be the same server where the RapidiConnector is installed (using SQL Express) or you can choose an existing SQL server that you can access from the existing server where you have the RapidiConnector installed.
2. Secondly, you will need to specify how to access this database in a new Rapidi SQL Server Connection. Read more under Connections how to set up a Connection.
3. Lastly, you select the Mirror (SQL Server Connection) in the field "Mirror" under Source Control under Transfers.

Congratulations! That's it - you are done doing the setup :-)

The Mirror Technology will now automatically create tables and transfer the data to the mirror database.

Note: You do not need to install the corresponding RapidiConnector locally as the Rapidi Central Service will always access the mirror through the Source Connection selected on the given transfer.

Monitoring of Status

During Mirror initialize (when a transfer is starting) a log entry is made, which makes it possible to view statistic information about the update of the mirror in the central Log. Also during Mirror initialize the status of the mirror update is captured every 2 minutes to tell the server how far the mirror update has come. This allows you can see in the central what is happening on the mirror side.

Detection of changes in the Transfer

Each time you run a transfer that is using the mirror, the Mirror technology will check if the fields to be read from the source or filters used have changed. If this is the case, the mirror does not contain the proper information, as only the exact fields that you read from the source table are stored in the mirror (to save space). If the fields to read have changed, the mirror will automatically do an entire Rebuild. There is no action needed from your side.

Mirror Rebuild

You can let the Mirror rebuild itself from scratch by setting the RTI counter to -1 on the Transfer that is using the Mirror. The Mirror will rebuild the next time the transfer is run. There is a button "Re-build Mirror" to do the Mirror Rebuild on the relevant RTI entries.

Update Mirror (Mirror Cleanup)

If you have some Transfer errors related to data in the mirror and you have changed the data in the source, but the Transfer still comes with the same error, then a Mirror Rebuild can help. A mirror cleanup is initiated from RTI by setting the relevant RTI entry to an equivalent negative value of what it is right now. E.g. if the RTI Source Contol value is 567, you set it to -567. There is a button "Update Mirror" to do the Mirror Cleanup on the relevant RTI entries.