Windows 7 64bit 
Access 2007
I have an Access 2007 database that I have split into a front-end and back-end. Our company doesn't have its own server so for the time being, I am hosting the back end on rented space on a commercial server host. Files are transferred through Webdrive, which works like Dropbox. There is a WebDAV client that allows me to view the folder on the server as if it were a network drive.
So, I upload the back end to the server. All well and good. I then open the front-end on my local system and attempt to link the tables to the back end tables. What happens next is that WebDrive downloads the back end database to the local cache and attempts to link the tables. Sometimes it works, but far too often it hiccups for no apparent reason and then the back-end is corrupted and irreparable. It will give me a message reading: "Unrecognized database format 'O:\Database.accdb'" where O: is the network drive and Database.accdb is the back end. I will also get an error message reading:
"[Database application name] has detected that this database is in an inconsistent state, and will attempt to recover the database. During the process, a backup copy of the database will be made and all recovered objects will be placed in a new database. Access will then open the new database. The names of objects that were not successfully recovered will be logged in the 'Recovery Errors' table."
At this point, the back end is toast. The repairs don't work (I get an error message saying "[Database name] can't be repaired or isn't a [Database Application Name] database file.") and I can't even open up the back end anymore. The puzzling thing is that sometimes the download of the back-end works fine and I'm able to link the tables to the front end. But after every update, the local client uploads the modified back-end to the server. I suspect that this is what's causing the conflict. Record locking won't work because you have a closed file being copied on to the server, overwriting the old file. This is almost begging for data corruption, particularly with more than one user.
Has anyone had any experience hosting an Access database on an internet drive? If that's the wrong way to go about it, can anyone recommend a decent web hosting solution for a company without its own server? Thanks!
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