How to share a Microsoft Access database over the Internet

How do you share a Microsoft Access 2013 database using the Cloud?

By YourOfficeAnywhere.

You’ve developed a Microsoft Access Database to help run your business or charity but as your organisation grows you want to share it with colleagues or employees. You may also want to share it with colleagues at other branches or with remote workers or volunteers, maybe you need to run it from home, or from a customer’s office. Hold on! It’s starting to sound complicated, and complicated is expensive, right?

Not necessarily.

There are several ways you can share your Access database, and theMicrosoft Access Database to the Cloud right method for you will depend on your individual circumstances and needs. There are many articles about this on the Web, so no need to repeat them here.This article discusses how you can host Microsoft Access using the Cloud for the lowest cost, without having to make major code changes to your database.

First off a quick mention about licences. Microsoft licence Access as part of Office Professional or you can get it as a standalone product; and you could provide it to all your users for them to run Access – getting expensive again! However, Microsoft also provides a FREE Runtime version of Access, meaning no licences required for most of your users.

To use Runtime you need to split your database, reorganising it into two files. At the backend you have the database tables and at the front end all the other objects such as forms, reports, and queries. Each user has their own copy of the Runtime front-end database all connecting to the same backend database. Splitting the database is straightforward, and again there are many articles about it online.

So, where do you put the database so everyone can share it? This is where the beauty of The Cloud comes in to play. A Cloud Hosted Desktop provider will give you your own dedicated server sat on high spec infrastructure in an ultra-secure data centre, supported, backed-up and maintained by the provider. The database and Runtime files are installed on the server and using technology from Microsoft called Terminal Services all anyone needs to run your shared Access database is an Internet connection on their device, and it can be almost any device, Windows, Mac, iPad or Android.

Each user has an icon on their desktop for the application, but the application actually runs on the hosted server. The only thing that comes up and down the Internet are the screen refreshes, mouse clicks and keyboard presses; so many users can run the application on an average broadband connection. Did I mention they can run it from anywhere there is Internet access?

So you can have as many of your users as you like from all different sites running your Access database application, you don’t need any infrastructure on site beyond a broadband connection. You don’t need to recode the application or have complicated network arrangements. In fact there is no capital investment required at all only a low monthly operating cost to pay for the hosting services. Your Office Anywhere are one of the UKs longest established Cloud hosting provider and have many customers and developers using Access on their platform with prices starting from as low as £19.10 per user per month. For more information or to request a free trial contact their technical sales team on 01282 500318 or email [email protected] and we’ll call you straight back.