MergePro 1.x and 2.x are no longer supported.  MergePro 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, and 3.5 are in end-of-life and should be upgraded to 3.6 or later (your MPCFs will automatically be converted if you are upgrading from any 3.x version).

MergePro 3.6 includes a number of features not available in earlier versions.  This version is able to load configuration files created by earlier versions of MergePro; however, once you move to MergePro 3.6, your configuration files will not be compatible with earlier versions of MergePro.  These are the key features added to MergePro 3.6:

• Bulk Backup / SQL Server Instance Backup
  • Backs up all databases attached to a specific SQL Server instance without you having to explicitly define every database you want to back up (compatible with SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005)
• Smart Backup / Rapid Backup
  • Eliminates stale file issues that applied in some situations when only using a merge to backup data
  • Intelligent backup engine allows terabytes of data to be backed up in as little as a few minutes using COTS drives
    • Backup engine does a "differential backup", where it only spends time moving / backing up data when it's changed

MergePro 3.7 includes a number of features not available in earlier versions.  This version and its configuration files are fully compatible with MergePro 3.6, but are not compatible with versions of MergePro prior to 3.6.  These are the key features added to MergePro 3.7:

• XML Service Engine
  • Allows MergePro clients to connect to an XML web service remotely and execute MergePro commands, such file operations
  • Allows for MergePro to be used in scenarios where the remote system is behind a firewall
• Operations Caching and Optimization Service Pack
  • Optimizes remote MergePro operations for better performance.  Performance improvements are most noticeable for:
    • Smart backup operations (reduces execution time by 50% - 90% on average)
    • Smart merge and safe merge operations (reduces execution time by 30% to 80% on average)

MergePro 3.8 introduces the concept of MergePro modes, allowing for use of MergePro in more complex environments and allowing users without administrator access to use MergePro.  MergePro 3.8 establishes the following 2 modes:

• Administration Mode (default mode)
  • MergePro 3.7 and prior mode of sharing configuration information across all administrator accounts.  Requires administrator access or an administrator to modify registry permissions on the machine
• User Mode
  • A new mode that allows users without administrative access to use MergePro.  MPCFs created in user mode are only available to that user.  MPCFs created in administration mode are not viewable from in user mode.  User mode is useful when MPCF isolation is necessary (for example, if there are 10 users on a machine, each using their own MPCFs, where no user should be able to access any other user's MPCFs)

MergePro 3.9 provides support for very large remote operations.  MergePro 3.9 must be used with MergePro3 Services 1.3.  While MergePro 3.9 is not compatible with older versions of MergePro3 Services, MergePro3 Services 1.3 is backwards compatible with all MergePro 3.x versions that are compatible with MergePro3 Services 1.2.  If you decide to upgrade to MergePro 3.9, please be aware of the following:

• MergePro3 Services Upgrade Required
  • You will be required to upgrade MergePro3 Services to version 1.3.  Older versions of MergePro that were running on MergePro3 Services 1.2 will be able to run on version 1.3; however, they will not run as securely.
• Comprehensive Encryption
  • Traditionally, all remote operations have been encrypted two ways using strong encryption.  In order to provide support for large remote operations, this is no longer the case in version 1.3.  The directory structure of remote repositories may be ascertained without authorization for brief time periods during authorized execution of MergePro MPCFs.  All files, requests, deployment IDs, passwords, etc. will continue to be encrypted.