Database Propagation

The database stored on the master KDC must be regularly propagated to the slave KDCs. One of the first issues to be resolved is how often to update the slave KDCs. The desire to have up-to-date information available to all of the clients needs to be weighed against the amount of time it takes to complete the update. See "Administering the Kerberos Database" for more information about database propagation.

In large installations, with many KDCs in one realm, it is possible for one or more of the slaves to propagate the data so that the process is done in parallel. This reduces the amount of time that the update takes, but it also increases the level of complexity in administering the realm.