One of the features added to SQL Server a few years ago were the ability to create synonyms and use those to reference other objects. The ability to create synonyms is something that I had wanted for years in SQL Server, but when they were released, I found them to be a tool that I rarely reached for. Whether it was because this was something I rarely needed to accomplish, or because my habits were too ingrained, I'm not sure, but I have only created synonyms for testing purposes and not for use in any production databases.

When a developer needs to reference data in another database (or on another server), they have a variety of ways in which they can do this. Some people prefer a three or four part naming convention, others use a view local to the database, and still others might use synonyms. While they all work, from a maintenance standpoint, I think a view or synonym provide a nice layer of abstraction while minimizing the potential maintenance headaches of future changes.

Read the rest of "Referencing Remote Data" at SQLServerCentral.