What is the best way, via the internet, to access a remote Microsoft Access
database? I was thinking of using VPN, but I thought that I would check here
to see if there is a better way.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Do you mean remotely controlling an Access database, or linking tables over
the internet? The first is doable, the second is a recipe for disaster.

Remote Control:
If your remote OS is Windows XP, you can use Remote Desktop (although only 1
person can access the PC at a time; this will change in the upcoming Service
Pack for XP, but that may not help you now). Otherwise, GoToMyPC offers
similar services, as does Terminal Server (a component of a Windows Server
machine), PCAnywhere, et al.

Linking to remote tables:
You will almost certainly encounter severe problems with corruption, and
your performance will almost certainly be so poor as to be unworkable. I
attempted this once, with a web server in Canada and my machine in Augusta,
GA. Even tiny data requests on a very well optimized data structure took
waaaay too long to process ... it's simply not workable, IMO.

Other alternatives would be covert the app to a web-based and place your
data on a web server. Access/Jet isn't really designed for those workloads,
but running a small site with minimal transactions and users can be done.
Otherwsie, consider switching to a more robust data platform like MySQL, SQL
Server, etc.
--
Scott McDaniel
CS Computer Software
Visual Basic - Access - Sql Server - ASP

"Smash forehead on keyboard to continue ... "


"Ernest" <leucoplast (AT) seanet (DOT) NOSPAM.com> wrote

"Scott McDaniel" <scott (AT) no (DOT) spam.thedatabaseplace.net> wrote

The database is in Washington D.C., but the people who would be viewing and
editing the database are scattered all over the US. There are 5 users, but
there would be only two people using the database at the same time.

That is exactly what I was thinking also. I would rather use MySQL with a
web interface. The problem is the development cost. The company is a
children's non-profit start-up, so the budget is very tight. I will suggest
allowing me to bill a small number of hours for the development, but in the
mean time, Access is where all of their current client information is
stored -as one giant table. Ugh. They have just hired two new sales reps who
will need to view and edit the database from remote locations, as soon as
possible.

Thanks.