Microsoft Access "10 - Remote Access - Multiple User?

WillJ

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Hi All,

Thanks in advance for the help.

I'm starting a new business and have developed (if you can call Access Development) an Access Database in the 2010 edition. I am a novice and need to know how I am going to be able to the following;

1. Allow multiple users access to the database through user name and
password entry and ensuring (to my up-most) that enough security is
in place so this isn't hacked (if it's on a server). How can I
achieve this?
2. How do I ensure data is not corrupted through multiple users using
the database at the same time?
3. I have a report feature that exports a booking confirmation in PDF
is this function still going to perform?
4. I will probably (yet to be define) have further reports that will
need to be exported etc, again, will the function still be able to
perform?

All help is hugely appreciated! Thanks
 
In my experience the best method is to use a hosted server. On this you can install (or the server can do it for you) whatever software you want. This could be full MS Access or just Runtime Access (for extra security) then everything will run as on your local except users will login to your server via rdp (remote desktop).

You normally pay per user per month and you have to pay for software licenses too so it can add up. The other option is to buy your own server but this comes with it's own headaches as you will have to maintain it.
 
Hi James,

First of all thank you very much for your reply.

At this point in time cost is an issue, within 5 months it won't be that way.

Would you be able to perhaps point me the direction of a link which will give me starting point?

I'm concerned about security with this. Am I right to be? Also, how do I protect data integrity for multiple users?

Thanks :)
 
A further note, obviously it's a Windows Application, what software am I going to need on the server to run it?
 
Can you clarify what you want to know more about - buying your own server or renting a server i.e. paying per month?
 
Sure. Buying / using my own.
I have an old dell lying around that I would use.
 
I don't think you can use any old pc as a server (but I may be wrong). I think you would need to purchase a proper server and install it with something like Windows Server 2008. Then it would act similarly to a normal PC except you would be able to set up multi-user logins.

How many users do you require? If you only had a couple of users it might be cheaper to use the old pc as a normal pc and use login software such as LogMeIn though this would only work for 1 user.

With regards to data integrity - I manage many multi-user databases and rarely have any problems. I would recommend daily backups of the backend.
 
Cheers JD.
I was going to use LogMeIn initially. Good to hear it from someone in the game :)!
 
Another quick question JS.
If I want to ensure that multiple users can use the database, how do I go about securing the integrity of the data, i.e. if one user add data or changes data that the other user will then see the updated version ... is this automatic?
 
This is automatic in Access to a point. Here are a couple of scenarios:

If two users are both on record 1 and on the same field and one of the users updates that field and then leaves/saves that record. The other user won't see that change until they either leave that field and then re-enters it, goes off the record and then back on or does some kind of refresh.

If user one is entering data on Record 1 and then leaves/saves that record and then user two opens record 1 they would see those updates straight away.

Hope that helps.
 
Hi,

Yep that answers my query perfectly, thanks.
And, sorry, didn't mean to call you JS, JD :p.
 

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