This section of the Sync Framework documentation describes custom synchronization providers. Sync Framework includes providers for several standard synchronization scenarios, but in some situations a custom provider is necessary. Sync Framework includes managed and unmanaged APIs for two types of custom providers: simple custom providers and standard custom providers. Simple providers offer greater speed of development and more intuitive support for data stores that lack sophisticated change tracking mechanisms. Standard providers offer the most flexibility and the highest levels of performance. This section provides an easy-to-follow introduction, and conceptual, how-to, and reference topics that will help you to quickly understand and be productive with both custom provider APIs. The how-to topics contain sample code. Additional samples are available in the Sync Framework SDK and on Code Gallery.
The following topics provide introductory information about Sync Framework. If you are already familiar with these topics, see In this Section and Reference for more information.
Describes the installation packages that install Sync Framework and how those installation packages can be redistributed with applications that use Sync Framework.
Describes the basics of using custom providers to synchronize data, and which scenarios are appropriate for simple providers and standard providers. Describes how the metadata, providers, and session work together to achieve synchronization.
