If I have a SQL Server 2012, with two databases, both publishers, replicating to a bunch of subscribers.
- Can each database go through a different distributor?
- Is the publisher the server or the database?
I understood it to be a publisher can only go to one distributor
- Is that each db or the whole server?
Best Answer
The Distributor is the server that contains the distribution database.
Configure Distribution at https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms151860.aspx says:
SQL Server can support a single Distributor on the local server. If you are trying to reduce the load on the main server you can instead create the Distributor on a remote server.
If the load is heavy, an additional step that would help manage the distribution is to create a distribution database for each database that is being published. This could reduce the contention within each database that might be present in a single distribution database.
Both a local server and a remote server can support multiple distribution databases.
David Poole's article from 2010, Scaling Out the Distribution Database. may provide you more insight. It can be found here: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Replication/69663/
Both articles are helpful and I have not detailed every step in the setup.