Problem connecting more than one client to a joined BCM2007 database

[Michael Roed]

Hi.
- I have downlaoded the Office2007 Beta 2 and Outlook BCM and installed it
on my XPPro. No probs!
- I have also created a new database for the BCM2007 remotely on our server.
No probs (after installing SQL Express 2005. Couldn't get it to connect to
SQL 2000)!
- I can get my own client connected which I made the database from. No
probs!
- BUT when I try on another client connecting to the same database on the
server it says "no BCM database detected" (or something like that) when i
put in the server name and click the "Connect" button.

Anyone who have seen the same error or have any ideas on a solution?

Thanx,
Michael

 

[Luther]

Assuming the other client is also BCM 2007 beta, the likely problem is
user permissions. Is the other client running with the same
login/password as the successful client?

 

[Michael Roed]

Thanks, you are absolutely right!
I did'nt add any users before connecting the BCM07 database. Thought that I
could do the setup first but as you said I needed to add the users first.

MS might think of changing the error message so you don't get an error
saying "Cannot find any BCM database on the requested machine". Do a check
to see if the DB is there and then return another message reguarding user
rights if it is! That would be nice ))

 

[Luther]

This is a common experience with NT and Sql Server, just returning a
generic "can't connect" error if all the requirements for a login
aren't met.

It's a security feature to keep criminals from poking around and first
figuring whether a machine with a certain name exists, then whether a
sql server configuration exists, then whether there's a database with a
certain name, and then if the database allows a certain login. Then
finally, once the cracker has answered all the previous questions, they
can try getting the password through social hacking--if the person on
the phone knows all those things about the system, they must be legit
and just forgot their password, right? Or they can just keep trying to
different passwords with a brute force attack until they find the right
password for that login. If the system always returns the same "can't
connect" for any of those items, the cost of a brute force attack
becomes astronomical.

BCM, or any other NT/Sql client application, doesn't have a shortcut to
answer those questions. Otherwise, criminals could also write similar
programs and bypass security features.

There's a trade-off between ease-of-use and security, and these days
software consumers are much more concerned about security than they
used to be. Microsoft has been ratcheting up the security bar with each
release and regular customers who keep up with releases and service
packs are learning to work with the added security, but anyone
upgrading from Win98 to Vista is in for a heck of a shock.