Mysql provides a view of all information pertaining to the status of replication with SHOW SLAVE STATUS
The \G statement terminator for this statement is important for readability, \G will diplay the output of any SQL statement vertically in the mysql client
SHOW SLAVE STATUS displays information about all aspects of replication for the given slave host.Reading the output earlier,you will be able to see what master server the slave is replicating from
The most important components shown in SHOW SLAVE STATUS pertain to files and positions , along with the SQL AND I/O slave thread.These two threads perform the physical work of writing and reading the relay log (the I/0 thread) and applying the new events on the slave(the SQL thread)
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/show-slave-status.html
http://www.alixixi.com/program/a/2011042069789.shtml