Accessing my inventory remotely

[Steven]

Hi,
I have a simple Inventory application (developed using Access 2000) which is stand alone. That is the changes to the inventory can be done only on a single PC.
Now, I need to make it available from different geographical locations i.e. via internet. However, it will be accessed from one location/one user at a time. My inventory application requires Access 2000 to run.
Is there any way that I can upload Access 2000, my inventory application and associated folders to a remote 24/7 Server and access it at will. What is the simplest way to do this?



I appreciate your expert advice,
Sincerely,
Steven

[daniels31790]

Steven,
have you tried using a VPN and Access Runtime? I'm not familiar with Access 2000, but we are able to do it with Access 2007.

[NTC]

A multi user Access must be set up as a split db with the Back End (BE) and Front End (FE) - and eash user must have their own FE. This is standard operating procedure with Access. However it is not designed to work across a WAN. So below is info I copy/paste into all the inquiries about 'remote' or long distance requirements:

Access is not designed to have the BE and FE separated geographically across the generic internet. The time delay will cause the application to hang – and in some versions one is not able to set up a table link using http syntax.

Generic advice on remote Access database options where one has only generic internet and not a high speed private WAN with Terminal Services capabilities…

Option 1 – stay with Access’ embedded replication feature (if .mdb format – not available with .accdb 2007 format) presuming you can co-locate or vpn them together.

Option B is to go with web architecture. find a web developer - turn over to him/her your Access db for them to look at as the prototype design...and get their quote. You will pay to have them develop it and then there will be the recurring for the hosting company...

Option III is the AccessTables.com service; this allows everyone to operate a copy of the Access db locally and then you send in the tables - they consolidate/replicate all the data - - and return to everyone a consolidated set of tables. Is great as long as the requirement is not for instantaneous shared data. If periodic updates is sufficient and the user base are all part of a team - this can be a good solution.

Option 3.5 is an online commercial db service - I would recommend DabbleDB.com Intuit also has a product : QuickBase - but it is quite pricey and intended for corporate users. Dabble is very reasonably priced and pretty cool. When using a db service you are in their sandbox and must live with the features and look they offer; the redesign using Dabble is a bit of work & learning and there is definitely missing many features one takes for granted in Access.

Option 5 is to have users get into Access using a commercial VPN service such as www.GoToMyPC.com. This will also have a monthly fee. The PC must always be on for the user. A bit of a latency/lag experience. Only one user can log on at a time...and, importantly, the log on user will have the ability to see everything on the PC - not just the Access application....

Option VI assuming you have Access07 or later in .accdb format you can get a sharepoint hub and use the publish/off-network function as a mode to work locally but push the data back & forth to a sharepoint hub. But sharepoint itself is another big element to manage and you might look to a shared sharepoint service from Microsoft or others.

No right or wrong per se – just right or wrong for one’s situation…finding the right tool for the job…or redefining the job for the available tool…..