07-03-2005 20:49									#1
	Help with a network... Got spare money?

So, this friend of mine has a small auto repair shop. Nothing fancy, and he runs it mostly as a hobby, but he aims to develop it into a real company, generating real income within the next few years.

He has a computer at the repair shop and one at home. On both PC's he has a database of spare parts and the likes that auto mechanics need. He has internet connection from both computers. The repair shop is, I should mention, located roughly 10 miles from his home.

He wants to connect these two computers in a network. How would be the best (cheapest) way of going about that? He has gotten a quote on a virtual private network from his ISP, but it is hideously expensive, and way over his budget!! The files he would have to share are quite small, and he would never have to transfer large amounts of data over the network. How could this be done??

Asmodean

	07-03-2005 20:53									#2
	Inflate your Upload Space

He needs public IP addresses on both computers. Then, he can do whatever he wants (including setting up his own VPN). However, publicly routable IP addresses are fairly expensive (it is an exgtra monthly fee for most ISPs).

	07-03-2005 20:53									#3
	Suffering from ads?

(forgive me for being an idiot today, I didn't sleep well last night)

	07-03-2005 20:58									#4
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

quote: Originally posted by Ari Rahikkala What, exactly, does he need to do with the network? If it's just transferring files, would putting a SFTP server on both ends be good enough?

He only needs the network for updatig his database, so he doesn't have to manually enter the data at both ends. E.g. if he uses one spare part at the shop, and dedutcs it from his inventory in the DB, he would need the data to be transferred to his home PC, to reflect the change there as well.

How would an SFTP server go about accomplishing that?

Asmodean

	07-03-2005 21:00									#5
	Put an end to popups!

What DB software is he using? If you can put a web page front end on it, then he would only need to run the DB on one machine and only that machine would need the publicly routable IP address.

	07-03-2005 21:13									#6
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

I hope I'll actually say something *useful* in this post...

... if the frontend uses, say, a traditional Windows interface, you still have things like VNC to help you run the database in only one place.

	07-03-2005 21:17									#7
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

quote: Originally posted by Ari Rahikkala I hope I'll actually say something *useful* in this post... ... if the frontend uses, say, a traditional Windows interface, you still have things like VNC to help you run the database in only one place.

Actually, this is probably the simplest solution.

	08-03-2005 00:13									#8
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

What's VNC??

It *has* a windows interface BTW

Asmodean

	08-03-2005 00:21									#9
	Get a bigger avatar today!

[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VNC ]

free client:
[ http://www.tightvnc.com/ ]
[ http://www.realvnc.com/ ]
[ http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net/ ]

if you want to pay for something similar, there's always Symantec's PCAnywhere or RealVNC Enterprise.

	08-03-2005 05:45									#10
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

Has this been resolved to your satisfaction?

	08-03-2005 06:33									#11
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

Don't tell me he's using Access...

	08-03-2005 06:38									#12
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

There's nothing wrong with using Access if it's a small-scale thing.

It's a decent enough tool to use, easier to install than, say, even SQLite.

	08-03-2005 06:38									#13
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

Yes, but it is pwned by the DB2 Enterprise!

	08-03-2005 06:39									#14
	Get a bigger avatar today!

well, yes. Access is a pretty weak DB solution.

However, Access also comes with Office Pro, whereas DB2 requires a separate license/purchase...

	08-03-2005 06:43									#15
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

I have a slightly used DB2 Enterprise v8.1 he can have for a mere $30,000 USD.

	08-03-2005 06:53									#16
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

quote: Originally posted by Q Cubed There's nothing wrong with using Access if it's a small-scale thing. It's a decent enough tool to use, easier to install than, say, even SQLite.

It's not the database engine to use when he's trying to sync two database, though.

	08-03-2005 06:53									#17
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

If he has no static IP adress he could use some free services such as dyndns.org. I've been using that for quite a while now (after switching from dyndhs.com which became non-free) and it has always worked very well!

	08-03-2005 07:03									#18
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

If his ISP includes free Website storage with monthly subscription, he could just dump the garage database, put that up to the storage space, then download it when he gets home.