Replication Model
Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 replication uses a publishing industry metaphor to represent the components and processes in a
There are also several replication processes that are responsible for copying and moving data between the Publisher and Subscriber. These are the Snapshot Agent, Distribution Agent, Log Reader Agent, Queue Reader Agent, and Merge Agent. For more information about the agent processes, see Agents and Monitors.
Publisher
The Publisher is a server that makes data available for replication to other servers. The Publisher can have one or more publications, each representing a logically related set of data. In addition to being the server where you specify which data is to be replicated, the Publisher also detects which data has changed during transactional replication and maintains information about all publications at that site.
Distributor
The Distributor is a server that hosts the distribution database and stores history data, and/or transactions and meta data. The role of the Distributor varies depending on which type of replication you implement. For more information, see Types of Replication.
A remote Distributor is a server that is separate from the Publisher and is configured as a Distributor of replication. A local Distributor is a server that is configured to be both a Publisher and a Distributor of replication.
Subscribers
Subscribers are servers that receive replicated data. Subscribers subscribe to publications, not to individual articles within a publication, and they subscribe only to the publications that they need, not all of the publications available on a Publisher. Depending on the type of replication and replication options you choose, the Subscriber could also propagate data changes back to the Publisher or republish the data to other Subscribers.
Publication
A publication is a collection of one or more articles from one database. This grouping of multiple articles makes it easier to specify a logically related set of data and database objects that you want to replicate together.
Article
An article is a table of data, a partition of data, or a database object that is specified for replication. An article can be an entire table, certain columns (using a vertical filter), certain rows (using a horizontal filter), a stored procedure or view definition, the execution of a stored procedure, a view, an indexed view, or a user-defined function.
Subscription
A subscription is a request for a copy of data or database objects to be replicated. A subscription defines what publication will be received, where, and when. Synchronization or data distribution of a subscription can be requested either by the Publisher (a
