Advice on an expanding access project

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user451

As the most Access-savvy person in my office, I have been handed the
task of proposing a nationwide expansion of a project that I have
developed in Access. A brief overview:

Right now, about 25 people process about 5 transactions per day.
(Total, not each) The back-end database resides on a server not
located in my office, but nearby. The transactions are the results of
certain law enforcement activities. Pretty low volume for new
transactions, with about 10 users per day accessing or editing
existing records. The problem is, that the program is so successful
that is has been requested nationwide. The plan is to add 1 new city
per month, with each city contibuting approx. 10 new transactions per
day. The total number of cities using the software will be about 60.
As I am fairly new to this, what can you recommend ? Should I stick
with Access, or is it unsuitable for my needs ? Network issues are
not a concern, as it will reside on a server in Maryland, and the
nationwide WAN is already in place. Any hints or ideas would be
appreciated. Thank you.
 
In addition, please check into writing a web based front-end for this. If
all of the users in the different cities can be trusted, you may want to
look into setting up a terminal server (which is mentioned in the article
Mr. Steele referenced below).

--
Kevin Hill
President
3NF Consulting

www.3nf-inc.com/NewsGroups.htm
www.DallasDBAs.com/forum - new DB forum for Dallas/Ft. Worth area DBAs.
 
I see Terminal Server mentioned frequently. Is Terminal Server hardware or
software and what does it take to set it up?

Thanks!

Steve
 
In Windows 2000 server it is part of the O/S, and should be
installed/activated on a dedicated server that can handle the expected load
of users.

No idea how it is set up in Win2K3...remote desktop cnnection perhaps?

Setting it up from the Access side is as simple as installing Access (some
tweaks to make to the install), and getting a copy of the FE into each
user's "Desktop"

--
Kevin Hill
President
3NF Consulting

www.3nf-inc.com/NewsGroups.htm
www.DallasDBAs.com/forum - new DB forum for Dallas/Ft. Worth area DBAs.
 
I see Terminal Server mentioned frequently. Is Terminal Server hardware or
software and what does it take to set it up?
Click to expand...

It's software which comes as part of WindowsXP. There are also
numerous third-party "terminal server" programs, such as Citrix Server
and PCAnywhere. These all have various capabilities, limitations, and
costs - it's not a trivial exercise determining which is most
appropriate!

I emphatically agree with the rest that running Access in native mode
over your WAN is a Very Bad Idea - it's simply not designed for this
purpose.
 
Thanks for the reply, John!

<< it's not a trivial exercise determining which is most appropriate!>>

What are the issues?

Steve
 
Steve said:
Thanks for the reply, John!

<< it's not a trivial exercise determining which is most appropriate!>>

What are the issues?

Steve
Click to expand...

Well, it really depends on how, and where those remote users are going to
be. Do you have support people to setup and install a front end of each pc
(as mentioned..this still means that you likely need to use sql server for
the back end)? Who is going to manage updates to the front ends on each pc?
(or, just use Tony's auto FE updater..but that could be a bit slow on a
wan). Perhaps you might go with a web based solution. Or, as
mentioned....windows terminal server.

So, again, the best solution will depend on the number of issues...what kind
of support people they have access to? Do you have a corporate web server
now that you can use? If yes..then perhaps a web solution is within your
means...if not..then probably something else like windows terminal server is
ok (but..perhaps you main servers are not windows based...so you can't use
windows terminal server).

Also, what is the speed of the contention etc etc. etc.

So, there is not one fits all solutions here for you...what works best for
you is going to be based on a lot of issues that you must sit down and
evaluate.

I mean, do you have the expertise availing to setup and run windows terminal
server (or, do you have the budget to do this?). If you got a web server
running already..then you have to evaluate the cost of using Terminal
Services vs setting up some web pages. Or, perhaps you already have sql
server running...and thus you can use that in place of TS, or a web system.
Thus, there are many issues..and what is best for you is only going to be
known by your situation...
 
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