MS DTC Service

The Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MS DTC) is a transaction manager that allows client applications to include several different sources of data in one transaction. MS DTC coordinates committing the distributed transaction across all the servers enlisted in the transaction.

A Microsoft® SQL Server™ installation can participate in a distributed transaction by:

• Calling stored procedures on remote servers running SQL Server.
• Automatically or explicitly promoting the local transaction to a distributed transaction and enlist remote servers in the transaction.
• Making distributed updates that update data on multiple OLE DB data sources.

  If these OLE DB data sources support the OLE DB distributed transaction interface, SQL Server can also enlist them in the distributed transaction.

The MS DTC service coordinates the proper completion of the distributed transaction to ensure that either all of the updates on all the servers are made permanent, or, in the case of errors, all erased.

SQL Server applications can also call MS DTC directly to start a distributed transaction explicitly. One or more servers running SQL Server can then be instructed to enlist in the distributed transaction and coordinate the proper completion of the transaction with MS DTC.

See Also

Distributed Transactions