Configure Catalog and Inventory databases on different SQL servers

You can install the Commerce Server product catalog and inventory resources on different computers that are running SQL Server. Commerce Server uses SQL Server linked servers to join the resulting data. Although this configuration is possible, there are some significant performance costs associated with doing this.

Depending on your configuration, the Commerce Server Catalog System frequently accesses inventory data from the Inventory database. For performance reasons, the Commerce Server Catalog and Inventory databases must be on the same SQL Server instance.

To deploy the Catalog and Inventory databases on different computers that are running SQL Server, you must give Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC) network access on both computers.

For more information about how to link computers that are running SQL Server, go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=74207 .Follow these steps to configure the SQL Server computers as linked servers:

To add the catalog server as a linked server to the inventory server

  1. On the inventory server, open Microsoft SQL Server, and then click SQL Server Management Studio.

  2. Select the inventory database, and then click New Query on the toolbar.

  3. In the query pane, type the following query:

    EXEC sp_addlinkedserver '<CatalogServerName>', where <CatalogServerName> is the name of the computer that is the catalog server.

  4. Click Execute on the toolbar.

To add the inventory server as a linked server to the catalog server

  1. On the catalog server, open Microsoft SQL Server, and then click SQL Server Management Studio.

  2. Select the catalog database, and then click New Query on the toolbar.

  3. In the query pane, type the following query:

    EXEC sp_addlinkedserver '<InventoryServerName>', where <InventoryServerName> is the name of the computer that is the inventory server.

  4. On the toolbar, click Execute.

To verify network access for MSDTC

  1. Click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Component Services.

  2. In the Component Services console, expand Component Services, expand Computers, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

  3. In the My Computer Properties dialog box, on the MSDTC tab, in the Transaction Configuration section, click Security Configuration.

  4. In the Security Configuration dialog box, in the Security Settings section, verify that Network DTC Access is selected.

  5. Click OK twice.

  6. Close the Component Services console.