MS Access over broadband connection

[Betsvigi9]

Can anyone help me? I am trying to find out what the performance of a well designed Access database would be, connecting by VPN over a broadband connection. Something along the lines of, if it takes 5 seconds to open on a LAN, then it would take approximately 4 times as long over say a 4mb broadband connection. I am just looking for some very rough general rules and have been unable to find anything.

Thanks

 

[fneily]

Alot of indeterminates. First, are you sure it's a "well designed" relational database? Is it truly normalized? Maybe post your table structures. Will it be written in ASP, or Data Access Page, or other internet environment language? How's the network connections - is it across town or to Hong Kong?
The only way to test time on your network is to test time on your network. Nobody's else's. Set up a sample database and try it.

 

[Betsvigi9]

I know that there are a lot of things that cannot be determined unless it is properly tested. The reason I need the information is because an employee has made a home working request, which would involve regularly accessing and amending access databases. I suspect that even if the database is optimised for use in this way, it would still be very slow and significantly less efficient. It would just be handy if I had some sort of rough and ready estimate to include in the report I am preparing.

Thanks for your help anyway.

 

[MasterRacker]

Access over a WAN link could be slow to the point of unusable.

One solution I've used in the past for that kind of work is for the remote user to use Remote Desktop to get in to an internal workstation running the Application. There's hardly any drop in performance at all that way.

Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[fneily]

Have you looked at Citrix (

http://www.citrix.com,

I think). When I was at HCFA(now CMS), we had hundreds of users going through a Citrix server. Basically, he would login in remotely and access the database directly.

 

[HockeyGuy]

Not sure about the VPN thing but I have had clients work effectively with Remote Desktop and Citrix. I would think that server horsepower is a requirement as you are basically working in a session on the server. I am not sure what the licensing and server software requirements are but it works and people can work from home. You probably need someone with LAN admin knowledge to answer the server side stuff.

 

[JoeAtWork]

As the others have stated, Citrix/Remote Desktop is a viable solution. Direct connection over the WAN never works. Not only is it slow, but any slight interruptions in connection may leave the database in an indeterminate state.

Joe Schwarz
Custom Software Developer

http://www.plandev.net

 

[GingerR]

I can vouch for JoeAtWork...I'm in that predicament right now. Work gave me permission to work from home, but many times I just end up going to the office anyhow because the connection sucks here. My personal connection is fine and fast; but the company firewall and download rate is excruciating. sometimes I save my stuff on my laptop's HD to work on it, but that's not the smartest thing to do either. And yes, I've had problems with a dropped connection many times which usually corrupts the db.

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884 or FAQ222-2244. Basics at

http://r937.com/relational.html

 

[Betsvigi9]

Thanks for all your contributions. We do use Citrix for some things, but unfortunately, Citrix isn't an option in this case because the employee needs amend the database rather than enter data. VPN is the only connection method we have available. Unfortunatley, I don't think working in this way is a viable option at the moment.

 

[lespaul]

because the employee needs amend the database rather than enter data.

what?

Leslie

Have you met Hardy Heron?

 

[Betsvigi9]

The employee supports, develops, maintains and amends existing systems, rather than just using them. Citrix would be fine for someone who was just inputting data or producing reports. This employee, needs to be able to get into the back of the database and not just use the front end.

The only other way to possibly make it work, would be to download the database/s (many of which are linked to several other databases) onto a local hard drive, work on them and then upload again. That method would be fraught with all sorts of dangers, especially since most of the databases contain personal data.

 

[PHV]

Why do you think you can't access a BE db with Citrix (or TSE) ?

Hope This Helps, PH.
FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886