Access front-end application with back-end .accdb on the cloud

Question

Hi,

I have an Access application for which the front end and back end are contained in separate .accdb files, with the back end containing all of the data tables and the front end containing all the interface elements (forms, queries, reports, etc). The front end .accdb has linked tables that reference the back end tables that actually contain the data.

The size of the backend .accdb is quite small, as this application is not managing very much data. It is used by a maximum of three users. While these users rarely need to use the application at the same time, it would be helpful if they could access it from wherever they happen to be (not necessarily in our office with a connection to our LAN).

It crossed my mind whether I might be able to move the back-end .accdb to the cloud (perhaps using OneDrive) and re-link the tables to the new cloud location in a way that if I were to install the front end on the laptop of all three users, they might be able to use the application anytime they have an internet connection rather than requiring them to be connected to our LAN.

If anyone has attempted this and can let me know if this is feasible, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,
Paul

Answer 1

Hi,

> move the back-end .accdb to the cloud (perhaps using OneDrive)

You should not use Onedrive for this as the multiuser access with Onedrive, Dropbox etc. does not fit for an Access databases and is likely to cause corruptions to the database. Your options:

1. You can migrate the backend tables to an online data storage like Sharepoint Online or Azure SQL and relink it from there.
2. You can put the complete application, i.e. frontend + backend, to a web server and use some Remote Desktop, Terminal Services, Citrix etc. technology.

Servus
Karl
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