Database deployment - is there a way..

[mdg]

Hello out there to the many Access gurus. I have an Access 2007 Database which I have been working on for some time and works fine on my local network at my office. I am now ready to beta test it and would like to set up a few front ends on different computers in differnet locations that are not on my local network and link them to the tables on my server here via the internet somehow. Can anyone tell me what is the best and cheapest method for doing this? My goal is to ultimately be able to input and update the database from any computer. Is SQL server the way to go? BUild a cloud server? Not sure what to do or if feasable to do so. Thanks for any comments regarding this.

 

[AccessMSSQL]

Yes, you can have Access in the cloud. You will have to convert your data to SQL Azure by setting up a windows azure account and in your front-end write an automatic routine that will connect the front-end to your cloud database. The only issue with this is all users running the front-end will need to have internet access and have the SQL Native Client 10.0 driver installed on their machine. Other issue is cost. Windows Azure bills based on your sql server database size, data usage, cache, and any other services you set up in your account. You would have to monitor your billing.

 

[gemma-the-husky]

amazon cloud services seems to be similar.

i tried it, and it connects fine, but was very slow to retrieve data, which may be a fault of my slow broadband, rather then the amazon system.

amazon will give you a months free trial.

 

[mdg]

Yes, you can have Access in the cloud. You will have to convert your data to SQL Azure by setting up a windows azure account and in your front-end write an automatic routine that will connect the front-end to your cloud database. The only issue with this is all users running the front-end will need to have internet access and have the SQL Native Client 10.0 driver installed on their machine. Other issue is cost. Windows Azure bills based on your sql server database size, data usage, cache, and any other services you set up in your account. You would have to monitor your billing.

Thanks for your reply. I was hoping to use my own sever and avoid having to pay 3rd party fees etc. I read somewhere you can use IBM DB2-9 and set up in similar fashion using my own computer. Doing it this way I could distribute the front end to all the users and they could link to the tables this way. I haven't tried it yet but was thinking about it . What do you think if you don't mind me asking? Thanks fagain or any insight....
http://www.databasejournal.com/feat...osoft-Access-2007-Part-1-Getting-the-Data.htm

 

[AccessMSSQL]

I'm not familiar wtih DB2 9 but I'm still not understanding how you intend to distribute the application to users who are not on your network and allow them to connect to data on your server? If I understand your article post, by design this assumes that your data server is accessible to you from within your network or remote desktop. ODBC connections won't work for external users unless you give them some sort of VPN connection to your server. With SQL Server 2008 R2 and I think 2005 supports it too, you can provide access to a database through a tunnel and allow certain IP addresses to connect to it. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/...-sql-server-express-already-installed-databas

do a google search on "Enable remote connections to SQL Database" or something to that affect

 

[mdg]

I'm not familiar wtih DB2 9 but I'm still not understanding how you intend to distribute the application to users who are not on your network and allow them to connect to data on your server? If I understand your article post, by design this assumes that your data server is accessible to you from within your network or remote desktop. ODBC connections won't work for external users unless you give them some sort of VPN connection to your server. With SQL Server 2008 R2 and I think 2005 supports it too, you can provide access to a database through a tunnel and allow certain IP addresses to connect to it. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/...-sql-server-express-already-installed-databas

do a google search on "Enable remote connections to SQL Database" or something to that affect

That's what I am doing and starting to seem a bit more difficult than I first thuoght. Will be good training at least. Been awhile since I've done any network stuff.
Thanks Again for your kind reply and assistance.

 

[KenHigg]

.ASP, .PHP, etc. The data crunching and presentation should happen on the web server side.

 

[PiedPiper70]

I run a multi-user application on a local network with an Access 2003 front end on every machine and an A2003 backend on a fileserver, and all is well. We also have remote users who want to access and work on the the same system - as though they were in the office. This may not be the only way, or the best, but what works for us is Terminal Services. It gives us the speed we want for our remote users, unlike VPN and such like which were horribly slow in early testing.

 

[KenHigg]

BE/FE VPN performance over the internet is unacceptably slow for all but the most basic tasks in Access for us.

 

[mdg]

I run a multi-user application on a local network with an Access 2003 front end on every machine and an A2003 backend on a fileserver, and all is well. We also have remote users who want to access and work on the the same system - as though they were in the office. This may not be the only way, or the best, but what works for us is Terminal Services. It gives us the speed we want for our remote users, unlike VPN and such like which were horribly slow in early testing.

I have my Access program set up in my office like you have yours, on a file server with the back end and each user with their own front end etc.. It seems to work the best. We have other offices in different cities that want to use the data as well. My IT guy said terminal services was too slow due to the firewalls and all, but I will re-visit the issue and try and get more info. Thanks again for your reply

 

[Simon_MT]

With a Terminal Server the FE/BE are both on the Terminal Server and the performance to the data is lightning quick because it is across the LAN. All the Terminal Server is actually doing is senting screen dumps across the WAN.

I too would use a Terminal Server.

Simon