LAN ODBC connection

[scienzia]

Hi,

I made an application that uses an ODBC connection to an Access database.

I run this appliction on 2 computers in a LAN (connecting to the same database) and I would like to know if there could be problems.

I would like to know if ODBC is made to work with multiple computers connected everyone with his ODBC to the same mdb file.

Thanks in advance

 

[ibearian]

no it works fine over a lan, but can be slow. you often need to use internal ip adresses rather than server names.

eg the database path may read

//192.168.1.1/databases/data.mbd

as opposed to //myserver/databases/data.mdb

My networks friends say that the RIP(?) routing in the cisco routers means than server names should be resloved, but invaribley i have found them problematicle.

Network speed may prove to be an issue. we used a 256k line between 2 sites and it was slow (connection 20 seconds) but usable, on a 56k it was so slow to connect (4-5 mins) & once connected worked but painfully slow but was usable. I used crystal reports to run reports and the were quicker, it depends what you need it for.

Who do you expect to access the DB. I have tried several ways and the best solution was via a web client. I chose cold fusion as a development langauge and its been great.

tel me how you get on

ibearian.

PROJECT H
mailto:ibearian@projecth.co.uk

 

[scienzia]

Thankyou very much

My problem wasn't performance, I don't have so many records (about 1000) and now just two PC working on the DB.

My question was only about race conditions and getting errors on connections, or strange behaviours. I wanted to know if I was doing something "normal" or something that shouldn't be done........

I'll keep the advice about IP addresses if the hole thing will get bigger.

Thanks again

 

[ibearian]

well its normal


all the best
ibearian.

PROJECT H
mailto:ibearian@projecth.co.uk

 

[kn3call1]

Iberian,
Your Crystal Reports comment caught my eye.
I use Crystal Reports on an IIS web server to query Oracle db. Users on corp intranet use Crystal's web server component to run reports and get results returned to their browser via ActiveX. Problem is the speed. I'm using Oracle ODBC driver to access db but for some reason Crystal takes a very long time to select records and return results to the browser. This is all on 100mb lan. I posted question in Crystal forum and I'm getting questions back about 'native drivers' as opposed to ODBC? Need better understanding of this...
Any help appreciated...

 

[ibearian]

Well kn3call1,

by native drivers they mean a driver suppilied by oracle that goes directly into crytal. This means crystal sits directly on top of your db and you can pass selection critera back to the sever etc. i have asked an oracle friend and they seem to think their is one.

Why are you linking oracle to access ? the connection to access should be quick, but oracle should be so much quicker. Can you no link crystal to oracle direct ?



ibearian.

PROJECT H
mailto:ibearian@projecth.co.uk

 

[kn3call1]

iberian,

Not linking CR to Access.. CR to Oracle 8i
Changed to native driver yesterday (once I figured out what it was) and still see no real improvement? I think I just have a whole lot of data and not very fast machines...?
At least that seems to be the concensus...
Thanks

 

[ibearian]

sorry misunderstood. i have a few other questions

How much data do you have (record count)?

are you selecting a string value or a number value?

what version of CRW are you using?

how many people call a report simulatainously

Have you asked the oracle tektips site how to configure the native connection for speed ?

what sort of server/pc do you have.

so orcale is on a server?
crystal reports is on another server or the sanme server ? ibearian.

PROJECT H

 

[kn3call1]

Let's see...

Typical data sets average about 100K records for a single day.

In most cases I have to use all records for a given day and I've had the DBA's create temp tables to hold the daily records. My sql then is basically 'select *'. Temp tables are dropped and created each day. This is also where the joins (if any) are done.

Using CR ver7 on a Compaq dual (1ghz)processor server running Windows 2000 server with IIS5.0

Simultaneous connections vary from 10-25

In one of the Crystal Reports forums I asked about the ODBC/native issue and was told ..."Go into the Database menu, and select Convert Database Driver. You'll see a driver called pdsora7.dll. If you switch your current driver to use this one instead, you will be connecting to the Oracle database natively, as opposed to via ODBC."

Users on our company intranet connect to the IIS server running on the Compaq. They click on URL's that are Crystal Reports report files. Crystal Reports Web server intercepts these requests, runs Crystal Reports on the Compaq and the report file queries the Oracle db on the SUN server. (This is on a 100Mb LAN) Results from the query are returned to the user.