We have the following configuration:
Transactional replication (one way);
Publisher and distributor are local, with subscriber through a firewall and
slow WAN link overseas;
23 GB database;

What is the best way of setting up replication in this scenario? If you do a
push subscription, with compression, the data size is manageable over the
WAN. Unfortunately, the distribution agent runs on the distributor, which
means the CAB file is unpacked locally and the text files are BCP'ed across
the WAN link, defeating the purpose of compression.

Is it possible, using a push subscription, to instruct SQL server to open
the CAB file at the subscriber instead of the distributor? I can switch the
distribution agent to run at the subscriber, but that requires a range of
ports to be open for DCOM, which is not allowed through the firewall.

For large files, what I tend to do is compress them
myself. Actually my files are too big to fit into a
single CAB file anyway. So, I create the snapshot on the
publisher as per usual, compress the files using Winzip
9.0 (command-line extensions), FTP the file to the
subscriber, unzip (again command-line WinZip) then
initialize on the subscriber. The initialization is done
using the 'alternative snapshot location'. In your case,
the inbuilt FTP option with compression might also
deliver what you need.
HTH,
Paul Ibison, SQL Server MVP, www.replicationanswers.com
(recommended sql server 2000 replication book:
http://www.nwsu.com/0974973602p.html)