Access database shared online between two users at no cost - possible? (1 Viewer)

Hello,

I plan to set little program I made for client in Microsoft Access online so it could be accessed from two different geographic locations. Unfortunatly I don't own server or can afford any at the momment.

My plan is to share Access database online via VPN and for this I tried using LogMeInHamachi which helped me setup easy VPN and I have setup database as mde file so so it could be shared between two users from two different geographic locations. Everything works but it is to slow so user which is accessing database from distance location has to wait for 2-3 minutes till application loads. Even when I transfer some simple (light weight) word file, it takes to much time to open. Internet connection is ADSL and it's fast enough and I don't know why it is so slow...

Is there any more flexibile/faster solution I could use to set access database online so could be accessed from two different geographic locations for free? One idea was use http://smallbusiness.officelive.com/ for this but unfortunatly this service is not available for country (Bosnia and Hercegovina).

Any help is apprecaited and many thanks in advance!

Cheers
Adi

Technically there is a way but it is not free per say...

You will need a valid internet connection and a network enabled NAS. Setup a shared folder on your NAS with your database in it but restrict access to other folders. You will then need to setup port forwarding on your router so you can access it online. Unless you have a unique name (DNS) you will have to provide the IP of your router to your customer. This should be ok if you've setup port forwarding correctly to only allow access to that port.

In summary you are setting up a shared drive on the internet

Another easier solution I guess would be cloud hosting. You save your database in one of the many free online storage ( Amazon Cloud) and provide access to your customer too. This should be easier to achieve I think. You can setup a direct shortcut on your computer (assuming you are using a PC...as I am not so clued up about Macs) to this cloud virtual drive so it will be pretty intuitive as well...

Before you invest in any NAS consider that that makes no difference from what you have just attempted, so that is not the way to go. The root cause is that an access db is a dumb file, so if you connect to that file via WAN, the db engine executes locally on you machine , and has to drag all the data across the network back and forth.

A half-way solution, better than none, would be to allow the remote party to log in on a local machine's remote desktop. That way only screen updates are dragged across the network. The login could be via the Remote Desktop of windows, or some third-party software, such as the not so fast but free VNC or UVNC (google those) or gotoAssist, or Teamviewer (both commercial and not free)

What is the total size of database file?

@jonathanchye

I like this possibilitie via Amazon Cloud but I really have no idea to connect table stored in Amazon Cloud with front-end in Access and I am not sure if that is possible

@spikepl

I know for remote desktop solution because I use TeamViewer all the time but I this is last option I woud use because it's not exactly what I had in mind.

@Max D

it's s about 1MB cca

I also must note that I am currently trying to find solution by converting Access database to MySQL which is located online on webhost I pay/use so perhaps this could solve my problems. Fortunatly my host enables Remote access for MySQL databases but I still having problems to figure out how to solve this.

Thank you for your support and any suggestions/help is appreciated.

All the best,
Adi

p.s. This how I came up with idea to conver Microsoft Access to hosted MySQL database using ODBC to allow remote connections:

Keep in mind you do not necessary need Access 2010 to use database servers that are hosted. The way I been doing this is find a web hosting company that has SQL server or MySql support, and ALSO allows odbc (external) connections to the database server. The result is I am paying for Web hosting, but not even using or caring about the web hosting. So I just wanted the database server. Right now, this approach is cheaper then cloud systems, but I suspect it shall not be long before the cloud vendors start offering better rates. (right now a 1 gig SQL server database on Azure is about $10 per month right now).

Click to expand...

http://www.utteraccess.com/forum/Ms-Access-Cloud-Computin-t1962593.html

Thats strange, that your connection is so slow.

Some background data transfers may affect your speed. Open connection status and check the data flow. It can be filled with:
- spyware or virusware
- torrents
- windows or other software update download

On other hand, logmein ways are organized thru their servers, that affect speed also. If it is possible, its better to get real ip-adress (its internet provider option) at one of that connections and connect directly.