Hosting

[Perfac]

We are subscribed with Mweb in SA and they host our Website. We struggle getting them to host our Access database. Can anyone refer me to a service provider that can host our AccessDB as is.

[CJ_London]

access is not a web based application, it is client based. Usual way would be to have the backend on a webserver such as sql azure (a sql server db, not an ACE (the access default) db) and then you can link your client based front end to it. However based on your previous posts will almost certainly require a major redesign of your queries - sql server does not use domain functions for example. Doesn't stop you using them in a query, but they will be significantly slower - perhaps as much as 100 times slower

If by 'as is' you mean front end and back end then the only way would be to use citrix or terminal server (aka remote desktop). each user needs to have their own login and they would have their own 'space' for desktop, documents etc for you to place the front end. Benefits are that it is as easy to manage as your own server, performance is good because the only network traffic is screen refreshes one way and mouse and keyboard events the other. With a decent internet connection from the user perspective performance would be equivalent to the backend being on their local machine. Another benefit is that it can be accessed from virtually any device including apples and tablets because the windows environment is on the citrix/terminal server. Because of this, it is also possible to be wirelessly connected since a loss of connection is much less critical - subject to timeout, a user who loses the connection will return to where they were when they reconnect - much the same as your machine going into/out of sleep mode.

If you want see how this works, google 'team viewer' or 'jump desktop' - or use something similar - ideally choose one that has a SA based server. These enable you to connect to your machine from another device (I use my phone to connect to my office machine when out and about) and is a similar experience to citrix/terminal server. It would be fine if you just want to demo something without loading to your laptop but not appropriate if you want a web based db to be accessed by clients. For that you will need citrix or terminal server. As to which one, citrix is global and will almost certainly provide a good level of service in SA, terminal server providers (google virtual terminal server) may or may not - but choose one that has a good level of service in SA.

Before making a decision, you will need to define your requirement since it will affect licensing costs and security. web hosted for your own use is different to web based for a client or clients. The default view after login is a desktop, including the windows file explorer - you would not want your clients to be able to navigate from there to your own or other client folders.

I'm not recommending them but this site gives you an idea of what is involved - costs per server and costs per user. Recommend each client has their own server.
http://www.infinitelyvirtual.com/related/1514.html

be aware that when talking about hosting access, some hosts are talking about the backend only (i.e. ACE/JET) - you would still require a browser based front end.