BCM Remote Server Set Up - help

[Deborah H.]

Hello,

We are running SBS 2003 w/exchange on a remote server. I am willing to buy
3 copies of Outlook 2007 w/BCM if needed. We have 3 computers (all in
different locations) that all need to access the BCM database. Right now we
sign into our remote sharepoint via the internet.

I've sent my IT guy all the links and articles found on this site (1/2 of
which is greek to me) and he seems to think it wont work -- something about
us on WLAN and BCM needing LAN and SQL 2005 (we use a older version of SQL
for Sharepoint).

I tried signing up for Office Live, but that appears to be a sham as BCM is
just a sharepoint contacts list

Could someone tell me, in plain english, how to set this all up? Outlook
2007/BCM makes it sound so easy.

Or is it just easier to use third party software like from this company?
http://www.mxcontact.com/

Very fustrated....

 

[bmickel]

I would love to know this too. WE were just going to place the BCM file on a
shared drive so we could all access it accordingly. We have a small home
based start up, and are not into a server as of yet, but have 3 different
computers that would need to access it.

Let me know what you hear.

Thanks,

 

[Lon Orenstein]

Deborah:

Tell your IT guy to setup a VPN so the remote people can connect to your SBS
server. Download the BCM Database Tool from the BCM Blog and use that to
create a db on the server:
http://blogs.msdn.com/bcm/default.aspx

Use the tool to Share the Database and you'll get instructions generated to
tell each user how to connect. Your IT guy should be able to translate for
you.

Now, have each person logon to the VPN, and connect to the "master database"
from within their copy of BCM. They can decide whether to have an "offline"
copy of the database on their PC or link directly to the server all the
time. I'd recommend the offline copy to improve performance and reduce the
load on the server.

HTH,
Lon

___________________________________________________________
Lon Orenstein
pinpointtools, llc
(e-mail address removed)
Author of Outlook 2007 Business Contact Manager For Dummies
Author of the eBook: Moving from ACT! to Business Contact Manager
www.pinpointtools.com

 

[Deborah H.]

Will this work with Outlook 2003 or 2007 or... both?

 

[Luther]

Will this work with Outlook 2003 or 2007 or... both?









- Show quoted text -

The method Lon described, sharing over a VPN, is essentially the same
for BCM v2 (2003 Update) and v3 (2007).

BCM is designed to share on Local Area Networks (LAN), but not over
the internet. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) makes several machines
on the internet appear to be a LAN to the Windows networking software.

 

[Chris]

The offline capability that Lon mentioned is only available in BCM for
Office 2007. And, since connection over VPN will not be as reliable as
over a LAN, I highly recommend you do enable Offline. During the
process of connecting to the remote DB, you'll be asked whether or not
you want to use an Offline database. Just check the box, and BCM will
set it up for you. Then, you;ll be able to use BCM whether or not the
VPN is up and running.

As Luther points out, BCM was designed to share data over a LAN, not
over a VPN. What this may mean to you is that you may find the VPN
bandwidth inadequate to the task. With that caveat, please do try it,
and let us know whether or not you succeed.

Thanks,
Chris [msft]