Basic hosting question

[keelbolt]

I am new to Access, though have used FileMaker Pro. I am currently working for a non-profit charity that needs to share a database across three different locations, therefore need some form of web hosting. My temptation is to use FM Pro because I know it, but logic tells me that this is not the best solution, and that MS Access may be a better solution because it comes with Microsoft Office, which is what the charity uses, and has therefore licensed copies installed on its computers.

Can anyone point me to a simplified answer to the question 'how to run MS Access on a server so that it can be used by remote computers in different locations'?

Do I need a server version of the software?

Is there any loss of functionality by using a remote server to host the database?

As an FM Pro user, I dont really understand the separation of front and back end either.

Anyone offer some help here?

KB

 

[RuralGuy]

You might start with the fact that Access does not come with most versions of Office.

 

[Atomic Shrimp]

As an FM Pro user, I dont really understand the separation of front and back end either.

I think Access may not be the best tool for the job here, but I'll try to explain this bit anyway...

Access deals with files where tables, forms, reports, queries and other objects are all stored in one big container file (you might see this referred to as an MDB, or ACCDB, because those are the commonly-iused file extensions).

It is possible, however, to store just tables in one database file and put everything else (and some more tables, if appropriate) in another file - the tables are represented in the other file as links, but behave in pretty much every way as if they were right there.

That way, the user interface part of the application (the forms, reports, etc) can be updated by overwriting just the database that contains them - the 'front end', without touching the data that resides in the tables-only database (the 'back end')

Furthermore, multiple front ends can be run on multiple machines, all linked to the same set of tables in a single back end database on some shared file space.

However, this is really only intended to be used on shared file resources within an office - so the back end would reside on a file server and the users would each have a copy of the front end on their machines.
Putting the back end further away - for example on a server somewhere else, accessed across the web, perhaps by VPN or something, is more likely to be troublesome, because Access doesn't handle dropped connections very well, or so I understand.

 

[keelbolt]

I think Access may not be the best tool for the job here...

OK. (And thanks for the explanation about front and back end). What might be a better tool? I understand MySQL, but can't do PHP sufficiently to design a front end. I need a commercially available software package, like Access or FileMaker Pro, to do the job.

What might be your suggestions?

 

[Atomic Shrimp]

I appreciate funding is probably an issue, but if I was in your position, I would probably be looking to contract a web developer to write a PHP front end.

Alternatively, you might be able to find a bit of open source group working software out there that already does what you need - what kind of database are you wanting to implement? What does it need to do?

 

[MarkK]

You can use Access as a front end to connect to databases online, but the internet is an inherently disconnected medium. You can make a request of a server, and it'll serve your request, but then it wants to close that connection and serve other requests.
Whatever tool you use you'll need to get your head around that using the internet, you'll have to
1) open a connection and
2) request the remote data (and close the connection),
3) then cache the data locally while your user manipulates it, and
4) then open a connection and
5) attempt to update the remote tables
6) handle errors and goto 4)
Just like clicking a web page sends the page back to the server for processing, which constructs a new page to send back to your browser. Everything involves round-trips to the server, and for each return trip, the server knows nothing about anything about your last request. You start from scratch every time.
Not trying to scare you, it's just a different, disconnected paradigm where your program has to negotiate with a different machine every time you want to get data access.

 

[Galaxiom]

Nice if it can be done in dynamic web pages but you can run remote users with Access. However definitely not by running a remote front end. It must be done through Terminal Services (mstsc.exe) AKA Remote Desktop.

The frontend is run in a virtual desktop on the server and the remote user just gets a view. Keystokes, mouseclicks and screen updates are transmitted thus avoiding situations where half a process is completed.