Good morning from Minnesota in the US!
I have a fairly complex Access database that is broke into a BE and FE. I am an amateur that is quite good in Access, but I'm not a developer.
I currently have the BE in Access, but have help in moving the data tables to an Oracle server. The FE will stay in Access to minimize hours in re-working the forms.
In another organization I worked for, I used this same database and posted it to a SharePoint site. This worked pretty well for persons inside and outside of the organization to access and use the database. But now I don't have that option -- both because the new organization doesn't 'do' SharePoint, and because apparently MS doesn't support that functionality in the new SP.
So far, I have investigated:
(1) Hosting the FE on an in-house server and using VPN to access the database.
Con: My understanding of VPN is that I can have two users signed in at the same time to the server -- but that if both sessions are 'open', other users cannot get in. If people don't log out (or I have more than 2 at a time) causing both sessions to be unavailable, I would have to have the server re-booted to free up the session. Based on my user population, I predict that this will happen a lot.
(2) Distributing the FE locally to each user and then using our standard server access to hit the BE.
Con: I'm afraid that I will lose control of versioning and headaches involves with tracking who has what version. Maybe that's not a legitimate concern.
(3) What about 'posting' a link on my Drupal webpage that will open the FE?
Questions:
Can anyone think of other suggestions, or offer thoughts about why my thinking on the cons might be faulty? Maybe my 'con' isn't that big of a deal.
Remember that going to a WebApp is not an option, nor is an SQL server.
Thanks for any insights you may have!
Julie
:banghead:
I have a fairly complex Access database that is broke into a BE and FE. I am an amateur that is quite good in Access, but I'm not a developer.
- There are about 200 tables and queries, and 15 or so forms.
- Moving the FE to a WebApp is not an option.
- Once implemented, I anticipate we will have between 10-100 users.
- SQL server is not an option.
I currently have the BE in Access, but have help in moving the data tables to an Oracle server. The FE will stay in Access to minimize hours in re-working the forms.
In another organization I worked for, I used this same database and posted it to a SharePoint site. This worked pretty well for persons inside and outside of the organization to access and use the database. But now I don't have that option -- both because the new organization doesn't 'do' SharePoint, and because apparently MS doesn't support that functionality in the new SP.
So far, I have investigated:
(1) Hosting the FE on an in-house server and using VPN to access the database.
Con: My understanding of VPN is that I can have two users signed in at the same time to the server -- but that if both sessions are 'open', other users cannot get in. If people don't log out (or I have more than 2 at a time) causing both sessions to be unavailable, I would have to have the server re-booted to free up the session. Based on my user population, I predict that this will happen a lot.
(2) Distributing the FE locally to each user and then using our standard server access to hit the BE.
Con: I'm afraid that I will lose control of versioning and headaches involves with tracking who has what version. Maybe that's not a legitimate concern.
(3) What about 'posting' a link on my Drupal webpage that will open the FE?
Questions:
- Is this type of file able to be linked in Drupal?
- If it can be linked, is this an 'out of the box' solution, or do I need a developer?
- If possible technically, would I run into the same VPN issues described by (1), above?
Can anyone think of other suggestions, or offer thoughts about why my thinking on the cons might be faulty? Maybe my 'con' isn't that big of a deal.
Remember that going to a WebApp is not an option, nor is an SQL server.
Thanks for any insights you may have!
Julie
:banghead: