Question

From the following definition of a Distributor:

The Distributor is a database instance that acts as a store for replication specific data associated with one or more Publishers. Each Publisher is associated with a single database (known as a distribution database) at the Distributor. The distribution database stores replication status data, metadata about the publication, and, in some cases, acts as a queue for data moving from the Publisher to the Subscribers. In many cases, a single database server instance acts as both the Publisher and the Distributor. This is known as a local Distributor. When the Publisher and the Distributor are configured on separate database server instances, the Distributor is known as a remote Distributor.

I am looking to understand the following phrase:

configured on separate database server instances

Does this mean on servers running on different computers? Or on one computer, one sql server, with different instance names?

Answer 1

“configured on separate database server instances” means on two independent SQL server instances; whether they are installed on the same physical machine

e.g. publisher = server\instance11, distributor = server\instance2

or on two distinct machines

e.g. publisher = server1\instance , distributor = server2\instance

Remote Distribution is any case where the publisher and the distributor are not the same SQL server instance.