Using the Create Publication Wizard to Configure a Distributor

For transactional and snapshot publications, the Distributor is the server where replicated transactions are temporarily stored, and where most replication agents run.

For merge publications, the Distributor opens only the Subscriber and Publisher databases and maintains the synchronization history. All change tracking information is stored at each user database or the distribution and destination databases.

Making a server a Distributor uses additional resources on the server:

Additional disk space is used for storing the snapshot of the publication.
Additional disk space is used for storing the distribution database.
Additional processor time is used by the replication agents running on the server.

The Distributor will be configured with these default properties.

Property	Setting
Distributor	Server is enabled as a Distributor.
Subscribers	All servers currently registered in SQL Server Enterprise Manager are enabled as Subscribers, using their current Microsoft® SQL Server™ login information.
Distribution Database Location	C:\Mssql7\Data.
Publishers	Server is enabled as a Publisher.

If you are configuring a remote server as a Distributor, refer to paths that are on the distribution server by the local drive letters. (You cannot browse directory locations for a remote server.) Be precise about the path you enter because SQL Server Enterprise Manager cannot validate this path. Mapped drive letters and network paths are not valid.

To start the Create Publication Wizard

To set Distributor properties