Content Replication and Archiving

The content replication and archiving functions enable synchronization of objects between vaults so that data are up to date between various specified vaults.

With content replication and archiving, you can, for instance:

Replicate data between locations.
Archive data from an actively used vault to an archive vault.
Archive data for long-term preservation in XML or PDF/A form in compliance with standards.
Collect data from several M-Files vaults within a single, centralized vault.
Use specific vaults for each of the various operations of the company.
Publish certain documents for interest groups.
Perform backups.
Restore the system after an error reliably (as in disaster recovery).

Global companies can, for example, replicate data to remote servers, ensuring quick access to data even if network connections to the main server are slow or cut off. Moreover, documents can be published for use by partners, customers and subcontractors by using a separate publishing vault, which can be part of a cloud service or on your own server. This way, all documents and other objects are always up to date and easily available for various user groups.

Functions for content replication and archiving are available in M-Files Admin. Replication and archiving are implemented with content export and import operations.

For a more extensive presentation on replication and archiving, refer to the M-Files Replication and Archiving User's Guide.

Note: For association and synchronization of objects and their metadata between separate vaults, the metadata definitions too must be associatable between vaults. For more information, refer to Associating the Metadata Definitions.

The replication features in M-Files Admin.

If M-Files is installed on several servers, an M-Files Additional Server License must be installed for the additional servers.

In case you have archived documents in earlier versions of M-Files than 9.0, please note that you cannot restore archive files in the .mfa file format to a vault using version 9.0 or later. If you want to restore an archive file in the .mfa file format, you must use a vault that has version 8.0 or older installed. After this, you can upgrade the vault and perform archiving that is compatible with version 9.0 and newer.