Splitting my Database

[John Lee]

Can a split my MS Access Database work in the Cloud Environment.

The reason I ask is that I have developed a database, and having watched the video by Richard Rost on how to do it, I approached the Company IT Rep and I have been told that I can't have a separate drive allocated for the split and that no work is permitted to be stored on individuals PCs/Workstations locally. All company work is done in the cloud.

So I need to know If still split the database in the cloud and deploy icons to each users Cloud environment will this still work.

All assistance appreciated

 

[Gasman]

I am going to say NO.

 

[John Lee]

I am going to say NO.

Thanks for the clarification, that's that project dead in the water then

 

[CJ_London]

Only way which your company might be able to do it is using Remote Desktop or Citrix if whoever your web host is allows it. Alternatively use a different back end such as sql azure.

Otherwise as you say - dead in the water for Access.

Look at the online apps your company is using - there are apps out there they might be able to work with to achieve what your company requires.

Although be aware the cost can be high and you are typically restricted to the 80% functionality they provide so perhaps not as efficient as access

 

[John Lee]

Thanks for the clarification, that's that project dead in the water then

Is there any other options I could explore

 

[John Lee]

Only way which your company might be able to do it is using Remote Desktop or Citrix if whoever your web host is allows it. Alternatively use a different back end such as sql azure

Thanks for your response, I'm not familiar with SQL Azure and as far as I'm aware they do not use SQL Azure, the company also doesn't use Citrix. I'll explore the remote desktop possibility, but I don't believe they have anything like that setup.

 

[Minty]

As CJ pointed out, You can store the backend in Azure SQL which is Microsoft's cloud SQL Server database.

If it's small system and well designed, it will probably transfer relatively painlessly.

 

[John Lee]

Thanks for your response, I'm not familiar with SQL Azure and as far as I'm aware they do not use SQL Azure, the company also doesn't use Citrix. I'll explore the remote desktop possibility, but I don't believe they have anything like that setup.

The IT rep is the Finance Director and he was very very clear that no work is done outside of the cloud, so I'm feeling that I may not be able to deploy the database.

 

[theDBguy]

Is there any other options I could explore

How about SharePoint? Do you have access to that? If your data needs are not huge, it might work for you.

 

[John Lee]

How about SharePoint? Do you have access to that? If your data needs are not huge, it might work for you.

I'll check that out, the database is not going to be holding huge amounts of data, it's not a big company, we have 30 employees and there will be a maximum of 8 users including me, it's based around ISO 9001 Certification Auditing.

 

[CJ_London]

there are online apps - never used it but found this one pretty quickly, may do what you want

ISO 9001 Audit Software: Simplify Internal Audits

ISO 9001 audit software helps streamline internal audits to verify ISO 9001 compliance. Here's a guide on ISO 9001 software (+ free checklists).

goaudits.com

 

[The_Doc_Man]

If you search this forum for "cloud" you will get a bunch of references for why you cannot do this. Your IT person has reasons, I suppose, but there is the issue of cost of development vs. cost of setting up something local.

approached the Company IT Rep and I have been told that I can't have a separate drive allocated for the split and that no work is permitted to be stored on individuals PCs/Workstations locally. All company work is done in the cloud.

The shortest answer is that Access cannot successfully use a cloud-based back-end file. The method of using Access is to have a front-end local to each user and a shared back-end file that is NOT cloud-resident but which IS on a local area network. There are a few ways such as Remote Desktop software to allow someone to remotely use an Access DB. As I read the above quote from you, it sounds like your IT guy is condemning you to web-only solutions.

 

[Pat Hartman]

The IT rep is the Finance Director and he was very very clear that no work is done outside of the cloud, so I'm feeling that I may not be able to deploy the database.

Technically, the "work" is updating the data and the data remains in the cloud under the scenarios we are discussing. Only the FE (forms, reports, code) that YOU create, not them, reside on their PC.

If your environment is currently all "cloud", you need to understand what that means. Is the company using Azure desktops? So, you can log in from any computer and see the desktop you would see if you sat down in the office at your desk?

Please get some clarification from the IT person. A manager is probably not the best person to ask. The Finance "guy" probably is not technically competent even if he is the manager. You need a conversation with a grunt who knows how everything works.

Companies started using this model when COVID was forcing everyone to work from home. All the local servers were converted to "cloud" servers. But leaving the PCs local and having to connect to the "cloud" becomes too slow because of all the data that has to get transferred to and fro, so they move the "desktop" to the cloud and instantiate it on a server. That means that EVERYTHING technically runs in the cloud. Keystrokes get sent from your PC to the cloud and images of your desktop get sent from the cloud to your local monitor. In this environment, you CAN use Access. You just need to understand how it is configured so it can be properly set up. The concept is the same as RD (remote desktop) and Citrix. If you can't make sense of the information you get from the IT grunt, see if you can hire some expert from this site to spend an hour in a web meeting with your technician so they can determine how this could work.