Microsoft Sync Framework - Sync SQL to/from a hard drive

Question

I have a C# application that uses Microsoft Sync Framework to sync an SQL Server database from the server to the client across the internet. I need to add a new feature, to allow clients to occasionally sync while offline via a portable hard drive.

This would mean that sometimes the client would sync over the internet with the server, and sometimes the client would instead grab data from a portable hard drive.

Does the sync framework offer a method for exporting the server database to a file, and then syncing that file to a client (or something similar)?

I'm having trouble finding any solid documentation on the topic.

Answer 1

if you want to sync from portable hard drive, have a look at generating a SQL Ce snapshot (via GenerateSnapshot), send the SQL CE db via portable media, have your app sync the SQL CE snapshot to your local database.