The Update Process reads journal records from the Receive Pool and applies the updates to the secondary database files. Under normal operation, with the exception of in-flight updates (i.e., those currently in the Journal Pool, Receive Pool, or the communication channel), the secondary database files reflect all database updates of the primary.

The Receiver Server starts the Update Process. The Update Process treats initial startup, and startup after recovery due to forced termination, in the same manner. At startup, the Update Process computes the reference point for starting operations (a JNL_SEQNO) in a manner similar to the Source Server's computation of the startup value of JNL_SEQNO. The Update Process writes this JNL_SEQNO into the Receive Pool. The Update Process then initiates a read of the Receive Pool for newly placed journal records. The Update Process reads and processes journal records as it receives them. The Update Process periodically checks to see if the restart flag is set in the Receive Pool. If the flag is set, the Update Process restarts operations from the startup stage.