Migrate MS Access backend to cloud - sql-server

I have built a CRM for my company using MS Access 2016, and we are looking to be able to use it remotely. I have currently split the database and have the back-end residing on our company server/shared drive. As I see it, we could put the back-end on SQL Server, but that would mean finding a way to host it. We recently moved to Google Apps for Work and I have been looking at the Google Cloud platform (e.g. Cloud SQL), but I don't know if it will integrate nicely with MSSQL. There's also Sharepoint, but we are are having difficulty even finding it to buy on Microsoft.com, and are trying to move away from Microsoft Office products anyway.
What would be the most stable, cost-effective, and fastest way to allow our employees to use our Access DB remotely?

My suggestion would be to migrate the database into SQL Server as step one. Then step two host the database in Microsoft Azure using the SQL DB service.
You can find more details and pricing here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/sql-database/
Be sure you check the single database pricing. Unless you want the elastic scaling and performance.

I'm not sure about the cost part, but the fastest and most stable (IMHO) would be to use Remote Desktop. Either to a user's workstation or to a server set up for it.

We have migrated our backend to SQL Server from MS Access for obvious reasons. Our users access the front end off a VPS Hosted in the cloud. Connection string ODBC. It is robust and fast.
we are currently using a VPS. Looks cheaper and easy to access ;
https://clients.databasemart.com/aff.php?aff=275

Related

How to connect to an on-premises SQL Server from an Azure ML notebook?

I typically use pyodbc when running jupyter notebooks from my machine, but this does not work on Azure ML. My assumption is that this is being caused by Azure ML not knowing if I'm on my company's network as I typically need a VPN to the server if I'm not in office. The only solutions I can find online involve copying the data over on Azure Data Factory however I need to avoid this if possible as there are many tables I will need to experiment with, but nothing is intended to be long term and I'm unsure what I will even end up using.
Ideally there is a way to make pyodbc work but any other suggestions are welcome. I have researched integration runtimes but was unsure if that would solve my problem here.
The only solutions I can find online involve copying the data over on
Azure Data Factory however I need to avoid this if possible as there
are many tables I will need to experiment with, but nothing is
intended to be long term and I’m unsure what I will even end up using.
Ideally there is a way to make pyodbc work but any other suggestions
Unfortunately, the on-Prem SQL Server is not supported as a Data Source in Azure ML.
Only the Data sources available below are supported:-
Approach1)
You can copy your data from the on-premises SQL database to Azure SQL via copy tool in Azure Data factory and connect to Azure SQL via Azure Machine learning by directly connecting to it via Datasource like below:-
You can also use Self-hosted integration run time to connect to your SQL server on-prem in your data factory:-
Click on Option 2 to download the Integration runtime and set it in your local machine with the Registration keys mentioned above:-
Approach2)
If there’s a large data You can automate your entire copy process from the on-prem SQL server to Azure SQL by using the Azure DevOps pipeline.
References:-
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/775844/unable-to-connect-sql-server-to-azure-ml-pipeline By Ramr-msft
How To: Azure Data Factory CI/CD with Azure DevOps pipelines — The YAML WAY! | by Raghavendra Bharadwaj | Servian

how can i choose the right database?

I am creating a website, using mostly html and some php pages, now I have to create a database and connect it with my website, for log in and requests, my question is what database should I go for, is Microsoft access good enough? or sql server or phpmyadmin? the website isn't large, it might get 6 requests per day, I am not a professional programmer but I know a few things about programming, please help
I am an developer in Access. Access technology is a Windows application, not intended for web applications. It is not a back end database which is what a web server needs behind it. The SQL Server - Express Edition (free) would be the product from the Microsoft family. Of course there are other suitable shareware products out there, probably the best known being MySQL.
When the requirement is for internal needs, not public facing, but the users are geographically separated; then Access (and other Windows Applications) are platformed on a Remote Desktop Server (aka Terminal Services).
The other alternative to building your own web application is using one of the database centric web services: Soho, QuickBase, Knack, etc.

Microsoft Access Web App Sharepoint (SQL Server)

Hi let me start of with saying I have Zero Experience with SharePoint. I have tons of experience with MS Access and SQL Server.
Normally when i need a Data entry front end i'll go for MS Access, but in this case most (probably all of my users) do no have MS Access so a standard MS Access Desktop App is useless.
I have heard that MS Access Web App can be published on to SharePoint, and then Sharepoint can be shared with our users so that they can enter the data.
Now through doing some reading up. I know that you can create a MS Access Web App through sharepoint then design your forms on MS Access and publish them, and the data will be then stored on to SQL Server of the Sharepoint. I hope I have that correct.
I need to be able to access that data through SSMS infact it will be so much better if I can just create the sharepoint app pointing to my sql server.
It would be really helpful if you could offer some guidance on this.
Create MS Access Web app on sharepoint (With data going into another SQL Server)
Craete MS Access Web App on SharePoint (With data going to the SharePoint Server) - but in this case I need to be able to access the database, and be able to add triggers and constraints.
This might be a very stupid question, but I have no idea how Web App and SharePoint work and I currently have no access to SharePoint so I cannot test. I am basically researching before going ahead and asking for SharePoint from my company.

Integrating SAP servers with Google Cloud Platform

A client of mine has 2 SAP local servers and he would like to recover his data on the cloud using GCP.
The 2 SAP servers are working with a shared MS SQL database with clustering methodology, one server is active while the other is passive. His reason of recovering the data is that whenever his SAP servers are down he could still access his database with the same functionality he has locally.
I kept on trying to search for a solution to do so using the Google App Engine but as far as I understood there will be no full functionality.
What I thought of is to use the CloudSQL database as a mirror to his SQL database and to get the GAE as a passive server that only works when the systems are down. I found this link which was useful on connecting SAP with GAE but still not with much help on running GAE as an active server.
Any ideas on any other work around?
Thank you.

Simple VB/SQL app and AZURE

I have a simple ms sql 2012 express database & a simple VB Express 2010 application as its front end.
Can I simply host my MS SQL database on Azure & update the application to interrogate the hosted database? This would mean, the application would still be local, but the DB would be hosted. My offices are distributed & if we could do this it would save quite a bit of hassle.
Do I need to use a virtual machine, cloud services or straight hosting? Its difficult for me to understand the subtleties each service.
I've had a look at the azure services information and the documentation is pitched a little high for me. I just wanted to know if this is relatively simple thing to do & if anyone has has any pointers to How To's or Noob guides to azure.
It's absolutely possible and in fact, super easy to set up.
Check out this simple step-by-step instruction on how to set up SQL Server DB on Windows Azure - https://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/common-tasks/sql-azure-management/
You can even connect to it from your SQL Server Management Studio just like you would connect to a local database or a database on your network.
Ideally - yes, you can change the connection string used by the VB desktop app to reference the Windows Azure SQL Database instance instead of the local database. That said, SQL Database is not 100% compatible with SQL Server. Be sure to check out the differences at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ff394115.aspx
Can I simply host my MS SQL database on Azure & update the application
to interrogate the hosted database?
Yes, your SQL Azure database is accessible via a connection string, but you have to make sure that you create a firewall rule in SQL Azure to allow your locally hosted or remotely hosted applications to access the database. Everything is turned off by default.
Do I need to use a virtual machine, cloud services or straight
hosting?
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking here, but a VM may be overkill, as that gives you basically a place to host a VM in Azure. You control the O/S, patching, etc. A cloud service (a web or worker role) is a little less maintenance heavy as the O/S, patches, updates, etc. are maintained by Azure and you just worry about your application. Straight hosting - are you talking about hosting on 1&1 or GoDaddy or something? If so, that's really no different than your VB app running locally and accessing your Azure database. For this option, just make sure you have your firewall rules set properly, otherwise you won't be able to access the database.
Hopefully this helps. Good luck!
Azure has some specific requirements that need to be met (like every table has to have a Clustered Index), and it does not support some functionality that is available on "normal" SQL Server (like replication, FILESTREAM data, or data compression).
Other than that, as long as your app meets the requirements, there should not be a reason for it not to work on Azure. The majority of the functionality not supported by Azure is most likely out6 of the scope of what a "noob" would implement, so you probably are safe.
However, Azure might be overly expensive for your needs. It might be cheaper to go for hosting the database somewhere. This would mean you would only have to change the connection string of the application to point to the new database server (though there could be additional limitations imposed by your hosting provider).
Good luck with whichever option you end up taking!

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