When entities from two different sources are unified into a single name space, no distribution algorithm is used to locate entries that are still stored under separate data sources.
When naming services are deployed with a directory servers hierarchy, the queries would hit the local server first. If no matching entry is found, the query would contact a more global server.
When data is distributed among multiple data views, the Coordinator data view groups the distributed data views to appear as a single data view which can be further used as a primary or secondary data view in Join Data View. In this way, the Coordinator data view enables entry aggregation and distribution.
When the distribution key is not available in the query, the Coordinator data view routes the request to a distribution data view that further iterates across the distributed data views to locate the entry.
For all the configuration details, see Creating and Configuring Coordinator Data Views in Sun Directory Server Enterprise Edition 7.0 Administration Guide