Distributed Transactions on Windows 2008 Systems - I

When using distributed transactions between distinct databases, using Microsoft Windows technology, one relies on the MSDTC - Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator.

The main catch to this distributed architecture is that it works based on the hosts NetBIOS names, which is specific to the Windows operating systems and is used for network resource sharing and the like.

There are at least four relevant deployment scenarios concerning this technology:

1. Full stack on the same physical host


2. DHCP reliant network, all hosts on the same segment


3. DHCP reliant networks, with firewalls between segments


4. Static Address network with firewalls

The first scenario, full stack, isn't challenging because it assumes you have the Application Server and Databases all in the same machine. It can be imagined as the common scenario for developer machines which often have the IDE, DB Server and App Server all-in-one.

The second scenario where all hosts reside on the same network segment, usually a net mask of 255.255.255.0, requires only additional configuration if there are no WINS server available and network broadcast of packages has been disabled. Otherwise the default configuration will work fine.

Next post will discuss a configuration scenario with a firewall in between the Application Server and the Database Server.