The mode of Hive refers to the type of metastore database:
Running in local mode, means that Hive will use an embedded database (ie Derby).
This mode is mainly used for unit tests because only one process can connect to the derby database at a time.
Remote Metastore Database. ie traditional standalone RDBMS server.
if the configuration hive.metastore.uris is:
See Hive - Metastore