Moving the publisher/distributor to a new server

We are now running a merge publication with ServerA (in our office network)
as the publisher and distributor and Server1 (hosted remotely by our ISP) as
a push subscriber. We are adding ServerB to our office network, and it will
replace ServerA, so it needs to become the publisher/distributor of the
publication. All instances of SQL Server are SQL Server 2000, SP4.
Two alternate approaches to this task come to mind: (1) drop the publication
on ServerA (using the option to delete the database on Server1), use
BACKUP/RESTORE to copy the published database from ServerA to ServerB, create
a new publication on ServerB, and create a new subscription on Server1; or
(2) create a new subscription on ServerB, drop the subscription on ServerB
without deleting the replicated database, drop the publication on ServerA
(again using the option to delete the database on Server1), create a new
publication on ServerB, and create a new subscription on Server1. I can think
of advantages to both approaches. I would greatly appreciate any guidance re
which way to go. Thanks in advance.
Steve,
I would use option (1). This is generally faster than using the snapshot to
set up the database, and you can be sure that all the constraints and
indexes etc have been included. It depends, however on how many tables you
have which don't participate in the publication.
Cheers,
Paul Ibison SQL Server MVP, www.replicationanswers.com (Liverpool FC!)
(recommended sql server 2000 replication book:
http://www.nwsu.com/0974973602p.html)
sql