Replication is a widely-adopted feature in SQL Server to copy and distribute data and database objects from one database to another and then synchronizing between databases to maintain consistency. In SQL Server 2016, we did some enhancement in replication features and made it easier to use and work better with other SQL Server features and SQL platform.
Re-publisher in AlwaysOn Availability Groups
In SQL Server 2016, transaction replication re-publisher is supported in an AlwaysOn availability groups configuration.
See “Replication, Change Tracking, Change Data Capture, and Always On Availability Groups (SQL Server)” for more details.
Replication to Azure SQL Database
You can now configure transaction replication to replicate data to Azure SQL Database from on-premises SQL Server or SQL Server running in Azure VMs. Azure SQL Database can be configured as push subscriber. See “Replication to SQL Database” for more details.
Replication to memory-optimized table subscribers
In SQL Server 2016, tables acting as snapshot and transaction replication subscribers can be configured as memory-optimized tables. Peer-to-peer transaction replication and other replication types are not supported yet. See “Replication to Memory-Optimized Table Subscribers” for more details.
Support DROP TABLE DDL
Starting SQL Server 2016 SP1, a table included as an article of transaction replication publication can be dropped from the database and the publications. See this document for more details.
We are going to continue to improve the functionality and usability of SQL Server replication in the future releases. Please subscribe SQL Server Database Engine Blog to get latest information.