I have properly configured transactional replication in SQL Server between two servers. I have a publisher that is configured with local distribution and a single transactional publication with updatable subscriptions. The second sserver subscribes to the publication and is configured to simultaneously commit changes back to the publisher.
When the subscriber machine is down, changes can be made at the publisher without any errors. When the subscriber comes back online, the changes propogate from the publisher to the subscriber as expected.
However, when the publisher is down, attempts to make changes at the subscriber will not committ. When I attempt to commit while the publisher is down or MSDTC service is stopped, I get an error specifying that MSDTC on the publishing server is not available. When I attempt to commit while the publisher's SQL Server DB Engine is stopped, I get an error specifying that the login failed to SQL Server on the publshing server.
Is this expected behavior? That is, does my configuration prevent the subscribing server from committing transactions while the publisher is offline?
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!