Sql-server – Are master/slave replication relationship between different versions of SQL Server possible

replicationsql-server-2005sql-server-2008

I have a database server, SQL Server 2005, that's inside a private network. Now i need to make a database there available for a webserver, so i want to replicate this db to an external server, which is running SQL Server 2008. I want the internal server to be the Master and the external one the Slave. New data will be added a few times a day maybe, infrequently, and should be replicated smoothly without manually intervention.

Is this a possible scenario, or do i need to upgrade the SQL Server on the inside to the same version as the external one?

If it's possible, are there drawbacks in doing it in this way that makes the upgrade scenario more recommended anyway?

Best Answer

Short answer is yes that is possible and straight forward (I've just finished setting up transactional replication from SQL 2005 to SQL 2008 R2).

Note: in SQL Server replication the terms are 'Publisher' and 'Subscriber'