Workgroup (.mdw) file location and performance

[Guest]

I have a client with users in two cities sharing a secured Access 2003
database. Will the location of the mdw file significantly affect
performance? Currently, everyone in London is connected to a mdw file on the
London server and so is everyone in Toronto. The program is performing
slowing for Toronto, although likely for reasons other than where the mdw
file. Nevertheless, should I consider copying the .mdw file to a server in
Toronto?

And while we're at it, would it improve imperformance to copy the .mdw file
to each user's harddrive? (I realize that cloning security files is a
dubious idea to begin with, but for now I'm interested in the single issue of
peformance impact.)

David

 

[Ernie]

I have a client with users in two cities sharing a secured Access 2003
database. Will the location of the mdw file significantly affect
performance? Currently, everyone in London is connected to a mdw file on the
London server and so is everyone in Toronto. The program is performing
slowing for Toronto, although likely for reasons other than where the mdw
file. Nevertheless, should I consider copying the .mdw file to a server in
Toronto?

And while we're at it, would it improve imperformance to copy the .mdw file
to each user's harddrive? (I realize that cloning security files is a
dubious idea to begin with, but for now I'm interested in the single issue of
peformance impact.)

David

Hi David,
Here are my two cents:
I'm operating an Access App that is distributed as partial replicas over
15 locations arround the world.
The .mdw files are on each users HD and so are each partial replica
respectively.
The connection for synchronization is VPN over the internet and so far
performance is acceptable.
I'm convinced that placing the .mdw file in each users HD will
contribute to enhance preformance of your app. if you don't make
frequent changes to the user-level security structure, else you have to
update all the .mdw files.
Regards, Ernie

 

[Lynn Trapp]

I would think that a connection from Toronto to London could definitely
affect performance. I recommend putting a .mdw file in Toronto for the
Toronto users. Make all changes to the file on one of the servers and then
just copy it to the other location. Putting the .mdw file on each user's
harddrive may be a bit faster, although I doubt it will help much, but could
turn into an administrative nightmare.