How do you share?

[Guest]

Hi,

This is a general query on how copmanies share their access database across
sites. I know this is something I would normally ask an IT department, but
ours is rather under staffed at present.

We run ours over 3 sites and sychronise regularly, however we have run into
a few problems that are directly linked to this. What I would really like to
do is have one backend in a single location with everyone linked to that.
Does anyone do this if so how?

Charlie

 

[ChrisM]

How are your sites linked together? Do you have a dedicated WAN?
If you are going to link to a single backend, you will need a permanent,
reliable and fast connection between sites...

 

[Guest]

We do have backends shared across multiple locations, but we have a wan link
over T1 between locations. Even with this wan, the connection is very slow.
We're starting to evaluate Remote Desktop or Citrix for these db's. One of
our sister companies runs their Access db's over Citrix and it seems to work
very well for them. The have a plant in Arizona that connects to a Citrix
server in Albany, NY and it's as fast as a local back-end.

I would suggest moving away from replication/synchronization schemes. You've
already figured out that it quickly becomes difficult to maintain.

Barry

 

[manningfan]

You should have 2 backends. One stays out of the replication scheme,
the other stays in it. You sync the 2 backends once a day; one acts as
a backup. Replicate the other backend across a WAN at 15 minute
intervals. If you experience corruption or a meltdown, copy the backup
to the field and re-sync the backends. This way you never lose too
much data at once.

We've done that for 7 years to cover 3 offices and have never had a
serious problem.