Can I specify P2P route

Question

As last post said, we have 3 nodes of P2P, A(located in HK) , B (US),C (HK) , and when setup publisher A we specified B as distributor, when setup topology, sql makes C as distributor as well. So only 2 nodes act as distributor. Currently replicated data flow is:

A to C:  A --> B (distributor) --> C              ---  here is the big problem since B is long distance!

B to C: B (distributor) --> C               ---is normal and acts as expected.

C to A: C(distributor) --> A                ---is normal and acts as expected.

A < --> B      ---is normal and acts as expected.

So the problem is: A and C are all located in same place, so can I change the route of replicated data flow to 

A to C:  A --> C (distributor) --> C     

Another question is, currently we stopped subscriber A --> B (distributor) --> C route, only enable  B (distributor) --> C route, so I must set publication A's properties to Never expires, is that right method for keep such long not running subscriber? We need to keep B and C server as warm-backup server. we don't want to rebuild the topology so far since the db is too big and time consuming.

Thanks!

Answer 1

if you want to change the route, you should recreate P2P replication. Your current configuration of replication is not a best practice. Check this link:http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms151196.aspx

Answer 2

Short answer is no.

Longer answer is that if you shut down the distribution agent on the route you do not want taken and then start it up nightly (perhaps) less data will travel this route.

Perhaps what you need is a combination of replication technologies to meet your goal. Also if you are trying to do DR mirroring might be a  good fit here, perhaps mirroring and replication.

What specifically are you trying to achieve.

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