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  1. #1
    Paul H's Avatar
    Paul H is offline Expert
    Windows XP Access 2010 32bit
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    Sharing a Front End


    A database I have been working on is an Access Front End with a SQL Server Back End. In a previous incarnation, the Back End was 50/50 SQL Server and local Access tables. It was a very awkward setup and I have since migrated all the tables to SQL Server. As it has been used for many years now, each user in a dozen different locations had their own Front End and hybrid Back End on their C: drive. Our DBA would rather put the Front End on a shared network drive and have everyone use it. From a maintenance and deployment perspective this makes a lot of sense. Upgrades and bug fixes would be as simple as replacing the old Front End with the new one. I would much prefer to do it this way, but I'm concerned about performance or other issues that might arise. I anticipate there wouldn't be more than 5 or 10 users at a time. So I would like to get the benefit of your experience on what the best practice is or what I need to be concerned about. I can add more detail if you need it, but I wanted to put the subject out for discussion first.

  2. #2
    CJ_London is online now VIP
    Windows 10 Access 2010 32bit
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    Our DBA would rather put the Front End on a shared network drive and have everyone use it. From a maintenance and deployment perspective this makes a lot of sense
    no, no, no. That way lies corruption. users should never share the front end. Google it, you will find plenty of horror stories about users who shared the front end and lost the lot.

    Each users front end should be local to their machine and not on a network in a 'personal' folder. Although it meets the above requirement, performance will suffer because much more than data needs to be pulled across the network.

    You will also find plenty of threads on the web on how to automate updating each users copy of the front end. Which works for you depends on your actual setup and circumstances.

    Not sure what you mean by hybrid back end, you said all tables have been migrated to sql server, so you front end should just be connecting to sql server.

  3. #3
    Paul H's Avatar
    Paul H is offline Expert
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    no, no, no. That way lies corruption. users should never share the front end
    I was afraid of that, but I thought I'd start here first. Your answer was quite definitive. In the short run my IT folks won't be please, but then they are never happy, so it's no big deal. It gives them something to gripe about and that the one thing that they do seem to enjoy. We'll go ahead with our original deployment plans and figure out which update method we should use later.

    By hybrid back end I meant the half the tables were in SQL Server and half the tables were in a local Access back end. I remedied that by moving all the tables to SQL Server. Now all that remains is the Front End.

    Thanks for clearing that up.

    Paul

  4. #4
    orange's Avatar
    orange is online now Moderator
    Windows 10 Access 2010 32bit
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    From FMS


    A Split Database Design: Front-End/Back-End Databases (BackEnd could be other than Access)

    Splitting a database is a relatively simple concept. You take an existing Access MDB/ACCDB database with its tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, modules, etc. and divide it into two databases:

    • The “Back-End” database just contains the tables
    • The “Front-End” database contains the application objects (everything except the tables) and links to the tables in the back-end database

    This design is especially useful in multi-user environments where the back-end database is stored on a network and contains the shared data. Each user then has a copy of the front-end database on their desktop pointing to the shared database.

    In multi-user environments, the front-end database can also contain tables that are private to the user. These local tables can store the user’s settings, selections, temporary or intermediate tables for processing data or reports, etc.

Please reply to this thread with any new information or opinions.

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