Google One Drive as shared folder for "be" db (1 Viewer)

[moi]

Hi all,

Is it possible to put my "be" db in my one drive, if yes how to link my "fe" db..

 

[arnelgp]

it's a No, on all cloud shares.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Basically, with most cloud servers, the answer is an unequivocal NO due to protocol incompatibilities. Most cloud-based systems use only whole-file transfer protocols (like FTP, or HTTPS's file transfer method). However, Access absolutely requires SMB protocol. Further, OneDrive is one of the worse cases for this type of setup because of the way it synchronizes data files via a non-visible I/O channel - i.e. you can't see the I/O channel activity and thus cannot know when you are about to experience destructive interference - the formal name of "left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing." It is a channel that - so far as I can tell - can bypass non-exclusive file locks. Which is death to Access databases.

 

[moi]

it's a No, on all cloud shares.

I asked this thing because my boss wanted to put in shared directory of my simple/basic database for the 3 office clerks to work on to the database simultaneously.. Its a small realty office..

How to setup a simple connection, there are 1 desktop and 3 laptops..

Any tips, suggestions is appreciated.

 

[GPGeorge]

Please, do NOT put the BE in GoogleDrive, OneDrive or any other "cloud" location for simultaneous sharing. That will result in conflicts and potentially corrupt data.

You can use a shared folder on a LAN. If you do not have a Windows network, you can share the BE by placing it on one off those 4 on-premises computers, and share that folder among the other users. That means the computer which has that share BE must be left on and available to the others at any time when you expect them to be working.

 

[CJ_London]

assuming they are networked together you could have one of your devices (suggest the desktop) host the BE. You may get a performance hit if your network is slow.

If your users work remotely then you can use Terminal Server or Citrix for access via the web. This comes with a cost but is the easiest way of moving to the web, it will also have similar performance to having the BE on your local machine.

Perhaps for a bit less cost you can move the BE to SQL Azure (or similar) which provides a web based BE. This will no doubt involve making changes to your FE. Note that this method may have a performance hit - depends on how well your FE is constructed to be efficient and the quality of your connection to the web

 

[arnelgp]

How to setup a simple connection, there are 1 desktop and 3 laptops..

this is a simple, peer network.
buy a Switch and an CAT-6 cable with RJ-45 connector (or lan cable).
connect all desktop/laptop to the switch.
configure the desktop as the server.
add static ip: 192.168.1.1
the others: 192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3, etc.
add share folder to the server and put the BE db there.
give the FE to each users.
make sure that on sharing, you allow others to see your pc (desktop) and shares (discoverable).

 

[moi]

this is a simple, peer network.
buy a Switch and an CAT-6 cable with RJ-45 connector (or lan cable).
connect all desktop/laptop to the switch.
configure the desktop as the server.
add static ip: 192.168.1.1
the others: 192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3, etc.
add share folder to the server and put the BE db there.
give the FE to each users.
make sure that on sharing, you allow others to see your pc (desktop) and shares (discoverable).

Thanks i will see if i can set and configure.. Is it not a plug n play thing?

 

[arnelgp]

not, plug and play. all device must be on same ip range.
What's a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Network? | Computerworld

 

[Gasman]

I asked this thing because my boss wanted to put in shared directory of my simple/basic database for the 3 office clerks to work on to the database simultaneously.. Its a small realty office..

How to setup a simple connection, there are 1 desktop and 3 laptops..

Any tips, suggestions is appreciated.

Try not to use wireless as well for the laptops.
How are they connected now anyway?

 

[theDBguy]

I asked this thing because my boss wanted to put in shared directory of my simple/basic database for the 3 office clerks to work on to the database simultaneously.. Its a small realty office..

How to setup a simple connection, there are 1 desktop and 3 laptops..

Any tips, suggestions is appreciated.

For a "basic" database, have you considered using SharePoint Lists as a backend?

 

[Pat Hartman]

I would add one more thing to @arnelgp 's setup. I just did this recently for a client that is a charity and of course I donated the drive. They had a peer-to-peer network which is what you are configuring. I felt uncomfortable about my Access BE having to be on a PC that was actively being used as a workstation so I bought them a Buffalo NAS drive. I don't have the exact price handy but I think ~ $150 for 1 2T drive. So it is a huge amount of storage and the NAS drive works great for the file sharing. Very simple to set up ---- WARNING - be sure to configure this as a standard drive and NOT a cloud drive. If you make it a cloud drive, it acts like a cloud drive and you have all the same problems you have with trying to use an actual cloud drive.

 

[moi]

Try not to use wireless as well for the laptops.
How are they connected now anyway?

they are not connected yet.. thats why my boss asked me if i can do something for them to get connected..

any tips on how to do the peer to peer connection? do i need to purchase a software aside from the hardwares you mentioned

 

[moi]

I would add one more thing to @arnelgp 's setup. I just did this recently for a client that is a charity and of course I donated the drive. They had a peer-to-peer network which is what you are configuring. I felt uncomfortable about my Access BE having to be on a PC that was actively being used as a workstation so I bought them a Buffalo NAS drive. I don't have the exact price handy but I think ~ $150 for 1 2T drive. So it is a huge amount of storage and the NAS drive works great for the file sharing. Very simple to set up ---- WARNING - be sure to configure this as a standard drive and NOT a cloud drive. If you make it a cloud drive, it acts like a cloud drive and you have all the same problems you have with trying to use an actual cloud drive.

many thanks pat.. im not sure if i can do the configuration,, is there anything something like a plug n play.. and yes the desktop will not be use as a working station, it will serve as the "BE" holder.. something like a mini-server.. for the 3 laptops of the 3 clerks.

 

[moi]

For a "basic" database, have you considered using SharePoint Lists as a backend?

hello theDBguy, i have no idea on "sharepoint" thing.. can you go further, pls..

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Depends on the physical geometry of your setup, but if you only have a small number of systems to connect, there are electronics store guys who can sell you a small router that would take four or eight Ethernet cables. As long as you can set up the router at a place in the office where the cable-run to each computer FROM THE ROUTER is no more than 100 meters (328 ft), you should be good. The shorter, the better. If you have a home network from your Internet Service Provider, you probably already have a router so you wouldn't be afraid of what they look like.

For a purely local connection, a "cat-5e" cable (it would have that designation on the blister pack) could easily handle 10 Mbit networks, 100 Mbit, and 1000 Mbit. The speed of the router will govern the fastest network you can handle, but the odds are very high that 100 MBit Ethernet would be adequate for a four-member network, and that isn't a very expensive router these days. "Cat-6" cables are newer and have better specifications including a higher network speed, but may be a case of overkill for a small office. Both cable types are common as dirt to purchase from any decent electronics store or even at your local WalMart, which might also have a decent small router that can go above 4 sockets for the network cables.

There MIGHT be a temptation to hook up your in-house network using WiFi. Resist that temptation. WiFi is first not as secure as hard cabling (i.e. your signal is being broadcast and WiFi security encryption isn't as robust as other types of hardware), and second isn't as resistant to radio static as a good, hard bit of copper cable. You absolutely DO NOT want a "bouncy" WiFi network as a business backbone because WiFi networks are associated with database corruption when a WiFi connection bounces for just a moment. We could discuss it for a long time, but the short answer is that WiFi is as dangerous as cloud drivers but for different reasons. The safest and most efficient connection is the hard-wired Ethernet connection.

There IS such a thing as a fiber network, but for what you described, that is another case of overkill and it is also less likely to be available on smaller office-oriented systems. You would need a special router and special interfaces on each computer for a fiber network. Internally they would be zippy-quick. For the U.S. Navy's Enterprise Data Center, we had Gigabit Ethernet and 6-8 Gigabit Fiber Channel for our network-attached storage devices, but that was to run a facility that housed over 1000 servers and a few Petabytes of disk space. So if you see some reference to fiber networks, they exist and run great - but you need a Congressionally approved budget to run them.

Other factors to consider would be whether you wanted folks to have Internet access from those workstations, because that adds a connection to the router to support that external access. Be warned that if you DO desire such Internet access, you GUARANTEE that you will need a good antivirus package for each computer. Otherwise, you will need to get a router with firewall and security screening abilities (which starts to get really expensive) and you start getting into the issue of having an IT person whose job it would be to keep everything properly configured and safe. In essence, an in-house-only network is pretty safe. The exact moment that you introduce the outside world to your environment, your security problems skyrocket. Note that if you intented to connect a thumb drive to any computer, a good antivirus package is also seriously necessary because the thumb drive probably has been connected to the outside world.

You asked about putting the network together. You will have to go through the process of adding each computer to the network one at a time to enable Windows File and Printer sharing. That should be enough for the in-house network. It isn't quite plug-n-play... more like plug-n-pray - but it isn't hard to add computers to networks. There is a networking wizard that will guide you through that. Always set them up to allow what is called DHCP - dynamic host control protocol - because that makes it CLOSER (but still not identical to) plug-n-play. The router is pretty much guaranteed to understand DHCP. Note that some routers allow you to use your computer to connect to the router's internal control setup; i.e. they have a networked dialog mode rather that making you buy an extra terminal for the router itself. There is also an option to allow each computer to auto-detect what speed its connection can handle, and it will automatically select the optimum speed, based on a quick handshake between your computer's network card and the router's network hardware, so again if you pick the correct options, that's another plug-n-play type of feature. Some printers have Ethernet connection capability which would allow you to put that printer on the network and share it, too. Its setup would also involve DHCP, most likely.

When you consider adding external networks, the network setup will get exceedingly complex quickly because suddenly you have to deal with routing tables and that is decidedly not automatic. Remember, the more you want to do, the quicker the price escalates, as well as the complexity of setup. You may, if you wish, show this reply to the boss who asked the question, and relay any questions. I DO, however, prefer to avoid private messaging. It is the goal of this forum to spread answers - which spread better when not privately offered. So ask away if you wish. Since I'm retired, I'm here fairly often - but I also have a life away from the forum, so I'm not here round-the-clock.

 

[arnelgp]

 

[moi]

Depends on the physical geometry of your setup, but if you only have a small number of systems to connect, there are electronics store guys who can sell you a small router that would take four or eight Ethernet cables. As long as you can set up the router at a place in the office where the cable-run to each computer FROM THE ROUTER is no more than 100 meters (328 ft), you should be good. The shorter, the better. If you have a home network from your Internet Service Provider, you probably already have a router so you wouldn't be afraid of what they look like.

For a purely local connection, a "cat-5e" cable (it would have that designation on the blister pack) could easily handle 10 Mbit networks, 100 Mbit, and 1000 Mbit. The speed of the router will govern the fastest network you can handle, but the odds are very high that 100 MBit Ethernet would be adequate for a four-member network, and that isn't a very expensive router these days. "Cat-6" cables are newer and have better specifications including a higher network speed, but may be a case of overkill for a small office. Both cable types are common as dirt to purchase from any decent electronics store or even at your local WalMart, which might also have a decent small router that can go above 4 sockets for the network cables.

There MIGHT be a temptation to hook up your in-house network using WiFi. Resist that temptation. WiFi is first not as secure as hard cabling (i.e. your signal is being broadcast and WiFi security encryption isn't as robust as other types of hardware), and second isn't as resistant to radio static as a good, hard bit of copper cable. You absolutely DO NOT want a "bouncy" WiFi network as a business backbone because WiFi networks are associated with database corruption when a WiFi connection bounces for just a moment. We could discuss it for a long time, but the short answer is that WiFi is as dangerous as cloud drivers but for different reasons. The safest and most efficient connection is the hard-wired Ethernet connection.

There IS such a thing as a fiber network, but for what you described, that is another case of overkill and it is also less likely to be available on smaller office-oriented systems. You would need a special router and special interfaces on each computer for a fiber network. Internally they would be zippy-quick. For the U.S. Navy's Enterprise Data Center, we had Gigabit Ethernet and 6-8 Gigabit Fiber Channel for our network-attached storage devices, but that was to run a facility that housed over 1000 servers and a few Petabytes of disk space. So if you see some reference to fiber networks, they exist and run great - but you need a Congressionally approved budget to run them.

Other factors to consider would be whether you wanted folks to have Internet access from those workstations, because that adds a connection to the router to support that external access. Be warned that if you DO desire such Internet access, you GUARANTEE that you will need a good antivirus package for each computer. Otherwise, you will need to get a router with firewall and security screening abilities (which starts to get really expensive) and you start getting into the issue of having an IT person whose job it would be to keep everything properly configured and safe. In essence, an in-house-only network is pretty safe. The exact moment that you introduce the outside world to your environment, your security problems skyrocket. Note that if you intented to connect a thumb drive to any computer, a good antivirus package is also seriously necessary because the thumb drive probably has been connected to the outside world.

You asked about putting the network together. You will have to go through the process of adding each computer to the network one at a time to enable Windows File and Printer sharing. That should be enough for the in-house network. It isn't quite plug-n-play... more like plug-n-pray - but it isn't hard to add computers to networks. There is a networking wizard that will guide you through that. Always set them up to allow what is called DHCP - dynamic host control protocol - because that makes it CLOSER (but still not identical to) plug-n-play. The router is pretty much guaranteed to understand DHCP. Note that some routers allow you to use your computer to connect to the router's internal control setup; i.e. they have a networked dialog mode rather that making you buy an extra terminal for the router itself. There is also an option to allow each computer to auto-detect what speed its connection can handle, and it will automatically select the optimum speed, based on a quick handshake between your computer's network card and the router's network hardware, so again if you pick the correct options, that's another plug-n-play type of feature. Some printers have Ethernet connection capability which would allow you to put that printer on the network and share it, too. Its setup would also involve DHCP, most likely.

When you consider adding external networks, the network setup will get exceedingly complex quickly because suddenly you have to deal with routing tables and that is decidedly not automatic. Remember, the more you want to do, the quicker the price escalates, as well as the complexity of setup. You may, if you wish, show this reply to the boss who asked the question, and relay any questions. I DO, however, prefer to avoid private messaging. It is the goal of this forum to spread answers - which spread better when not privately offered. So ask away if you wish. Since I'm retired, I'm here fairly often - but I also have a life away from the forum, so I'm not here round-the-clock.

Many thanks the doc man.. yes if i collected more ideas, i will come here to get experts advice and reco..

 

[moi]

View attachment 113016

hi arnel,

wow the diagram itself is a little scary for a non-tech old man..

do i need another windows version to do this connection?.. or do i need specific software? perhaps if you could share a link sort of tutorial to do it, much appreciated.

 

[arnelgp]

any pc/hardware vendor can give you more advice on how to set up.
there is no need for special software, even different version of windows will do.
all you need is a Uniform, local static IP address (like what i show you on my first post).
you can also asked someone from different company that has a lan setup to help you.

you will need lan cables (make sure all cables are long enough to reach each users) and a Switch.