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....
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…..
