Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Unleashed

Data Characteristics

You need to analyze the underlying data types and characteristics thoroughly. Issues such as collation or character set and data sorting come into play. You must be aware of what they are set to on all nodes of your replication configuration. SQL Server 2012 does not convert the replicated data and might even mistranslate the data as it is replicated because it is impossible to map all characters between character sets. It is best to look up the character set “mapping chart” for SQL Server replication to all other data target environments. Most are covered well, but problems arise with certain data types, such as image, timestamp, and identity. Sometimes, using the Unicode data types at all sites is best for consistency. ...