Massive Integration Problem Any ideas?

eddyc

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Hi, i am currently helping a company which uses several different versions of Access. The Financial side is run on Windows 98 PCs and built in Access 2.0! the HR Side is running on windows XP and vista and using Access 2007. THey want to get on to the web and integrate all their databases so ID and information is not duplicated and only need be entered once!!

The Machine running Access 2.0 are so old that they do not have any internet access ... i suppose this could be changed .. they are connected by ethernet with no cd roms, no usb prots nothing to connect them with the rest of the office. I'm not sure whether these are able to be installed or not.

Obviously we want to integrate these systems as quickly as possible I have discovered that you can import and export between access 2.0 and 2007 using excel 5.0 tables but want to more than this one option is to convert access 2.0 to 2000 then to 2007 but i am struggling to convince the director to allow me to do this!! Has anyone done this before is this best thing to do?

Given that they want to integrate fully with the web is MYSQL better than access anyway?

Look forward to getting some feedback,

Ed:eek:
 
Firstly you need to decide which information has priority over the other in terms of accuary then you need to build a DFD and and ERD to merge both processess.

Then perfrom some gap analysis on both sets of data. The data is the key component here, get that right and the rest will follow.

How much data are we talking about?
Can any be archived first?
Taking over years of data an be time consuming and overbearing, and in some instances unneccessary.

I would certainly dump the old Windows 98 machines. Archaic to say the least. Although a very stable platform is is so behind it is not a viable propersition to try and upgrade them. Most plug and play hardware is not compatable with 98. Cannot even use pen drives. No USB in most instances.

Big job, but if they want to progress then you need to spend money. Sounds a very interesting project, keep us informed.
 
i can't see the web helping with this much

tbh.,. I think you should get a professional in - discuss what you have and what you want - and guide you - even if you just use this as a basis for you to do the work yourself.
 
The big issue is this: You cannot get any more updates for Win98 or Access 2.0's version of the .DLL files they use - the MDAC library, for example. These are among the most easily attached components.

Therefore, you must ask the bosses this question: How valuable is the data and how serious would it be to discover that someone hacked in? In other words, you must develop a risk/reward matrix for the (very serious and likely) threat that your data could be breached through the oldest and therefore least protected systems. You need to determine the dollar value of a breach and accompanying data loss (or public relations loss, if it is that kind of data).

The next part of your problem will be to evaluate the costs of mitigating the risks. If you have to spend X money to balance against a costly data loss. If the cost to protect the data by upgrading your hosting systems is less than the cost of one major loss event, maybe the cost/reward matrix will make the decision for you.

So.... just how valuable is the dataset to your company? That's the starting point. All sorts of good references are available on risk assessment, resource protection, disaster recovery, and other subjects that attempt to quantify hard cash value for your assets including your knowledge/data assets. That is your point of attack to get a handle. That is how you can start to develop a potential budget for your proposed upgrade.

Remember, your bosses are probably less techie than you are. They worry about dollars and cents. If you provide them this kind of information, you will look like a genius.
 
Thank You the Doc_Man very kind of you and very sound Advice. The information they hold on this computer is the money engine of the company !!!! It is al Invoice information, Current sales. Staff Placed etc ...MASSIVE DEAL IF IT WENT DOWN OR IT IT WAS HACKED MASSIVE. They wouldn't be able to recover and i wouldn't be able to help them because i cant even access it without being on one of the computer it has not integration to the outside worl at all apart form through floppy disks and an iomega zip drive!!!! I will research the references on risk assessment, resource protection and disaster recovery that is exactly waht i needed also what platform to set up a new system on the minimizes risk and maximises openeness integration ability to change and stability.

Where can i find more security info about weaknesses of win 98 and access 2.0? We have to reprogram the accounts system!!! I am going to try and re build the sales system on the web link it into the old system by just transferring tables of sales information while we redesign and integrate the accounts system on to the web.

Ps i unsubscribed from this thread by mistake have i just re-subscribed by writing again? I hope so ... cheers for all your advice am working on it!!!
 
My main concern here is Mission Critical Data. The data on the W98 machines. What back procedures are currently in place and how often are they being done? Are they incremental?

The first thing I would do is to stick in a slave drive and port all the data onto the slave drive for safety's sake. Then use this to convert to a later version of Access preserving as much info as possible.

Front ends can be redeveloped, data can't. Then again you need to ask yourself the question. Are the Access 2.0 mdb's split or not? Hopefully they are, makes life a bit harder if not.
 
the only backup that is being done is onto iomega zip drives .... not sure what a split database is ? do you mean tables in one dbase and data in another? because i don't think they are if that is the case!! Loading all the data onto a slave dirve is a good idea ... has anyone ever tried converting Access V2.0 to 2007, 2010 ? The v2.0 is not very sophisticated at all it really is just data with a few simple forms and queries and some basic macros nothing too complicated!
 
Question is How big is it?
Have a Compact and Repair ever been performed on it?
Can you post a copy for testing?
 
Its not that big. 10 to 15 meg maybe 20 i think it may be compacted and repaired each week maybe each night though i will have to check! i think getting a copy of it and upgrading to 2010 or 2007 has got to be the first thing to try if it works at least the old computers can be ditched and the whole system integrated onto the same platform! Has anyone ever migrated from v2.0 to 2007?
 
I don't think you can upgrade Access v2 in Access 2007 you may need to upgrade Forms etc. to 2000/2002/2003. The data maybe upgradable.

I have only upgraded from Access 1997 to 2007.

Simon
 
Where can i find more security info about weaknesses of win 98 and access 2.0?

Try web searches for the following:

Windows 98 vulnerabilities

Access 2.0 vulnerabilities

mdac vulnerability

Beware of asking for what you want - you might get it. The Win98 vulnerability search netted me over a million articles. Probably you have lots of overlap there, but that's OK. It won't take long to find a huge list.

Here is a selling point for modernization. The hackers of the world are not standing still. If you are forced to stand still because of your platforms, you are an easy target. If you can install Windows Service Packs, Hot Fixes, and other kinds of patches, and if you can get current security software like McAfee, Norton, Kaspersky, etc. then you can keep ahead of most hackers. They will look elsewhere if they see your site secured tightly enough that it will take a lot of their time. You might also want to have the support of someone who has gone through the CompTIA Security+ or one of the other popular security certifications. Or get that certification for yourself. It is possible to do so via self-study. I did it.
 
Very interesting - what about switching to Macs or linux for more security i.e windows is not a very secure system is linux better or Mac or Unix?
 
Simon MT

You can switch convert using access 2000 then from 2000 to 2007 using Access 2007.
 
My day job is with the U.S. Dept. of Defense. I see some things called the Information Assurance Vulnerability reports, which come in Alerts (IAVA) and Bulletins (IAVB). There is also a "T" but that is rarely worth attention. They are issued from many sources and are reported through NAVNETWARCOM (Naval Network Warfare Command) as a central tracking point. Hacking of government sites is serious enough that the US Navy created a command specifically for fighting against hackers. You could perhaps accurately say that while I don't carry a weapon or launch a missile, I am a front-line fighter in the international war against terrorism - in this case, terrorism by hacking.

My position includes keeping my O/S patched on a regular basis. I also need to keep up with these IAV notices because the US Government tracks these notices across every machine in their category. As a general rule, a machine that isn't patched in a timely manner has to be dropped from our networks, patched, and then fully scanned so that it can be certified as having up-to-date patches. At my work site, we have a whole group of nearly two dozen people whose primary job it is to keep machines in a ready-to-run state. It is a full-time job and often more than full-time. Multiply that by how many government offices exist in the USA and you might get an idea of just how seriously we take this job.

The problem with running older machines is the lack of new patches to fix new vulnerabilities found in those older machines. Once Microsoft drops support for an O/S, you should seriously consider dropping all use of that O/S as quickly as possible. Otherwise, you will NEVER keep ahead of the hackers.

Hackers can be subdivided into two categories - targeters and browsers. Targeter hackers have an agenda with an agency, company, or industry. They attack based on what their targets do. They want to do damage or want to steal some part of a company's intellectual assets. They may be performing espionage for hire or they may be looking for secrets to sell within a particular industry.

The browsers are just grazing the net looking for what we call low-hanging fruit. If they see signs of a weakly secured site, they hack in. They see what, if anything, they can find. For the browser hackers, it is all about targets of opportunity, which means you want to give them no opportunity. Running an older O/S is a flare-lit signal for them to attack, almost like a shark feeding frenzy.

The hackers go where they think they have the best odds. This means they play the law of averages. Most people use Windows for their workhorse machines, so that is what gets attacked first. Assuming a "normal" distribution of patching, the greatest number of un-patched or partially patched systems will be Windows-based. This means the hackers who hack Windows systems have the best chance of finding something.

The next category is UNIX. That gets attacked a lot. The MACs are just now coming into general use ever since they gained the ability to run Office-compatible code. So they get their share of assaults as well, and it is growing. Other operating systems such as OpenVMS are not being hacked for a couple of reasons including that you CAN'T hack OpenVMS in the same way that you hack other systems. It is not invulnerable, but it happens to not be vulnerable to the most common attacks - buffer overflows with specially constructed messages. Problem is, it is a "mature" O/S - translation: Nobody wants to use it any more because it doesn't run modern Office s/w.

I am not able to give you accurate statistics because I'm replying from my home system. I cannot get to a site that holds the "real" hacker statistics from here. However, I can state without fear of contradiction that hardening a system to resist hacking attempts is not trivial and is never done. On the 15th of this month alone, we got over 20 new IAV notices of specific vulnerabilities on a mixed bag of products from MS Windows itself, DNS services, Office, Excel, Power Point, and some non-Windows networking products. We'll get more notices on the 1st of the month. Every two weeks, not quite like clockwork but almost, we get a new cycle of alerts. If this kind of information persuades your bosses to think about upgrading, be my guest to print this out and give it to them.
 
Thanks The Doc Man, i am forwarding your advice to them!!! They are hard work and seem to be fighting me even for money for a website! It seems to me they are trying to keep control but that is killing them!! Incredibly frustrating!
 

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