about database and remote connections.

[Shenno]

hi all.


i have some questions about databases and remote connections..

i've made an application that connects to sql server db on local machine then i published the app. and installed it on other machine..

was very bad when i realised that the application won't work except that there are sql server instance on that machine.. :/


am thinking now to use access db instead of Sql Server..
but i don't know if i had to install access on every machine to make the app. work ?? or just the access db file "mdb" is enough to connect and react with data on that db ??

and if i had to install access on the pc that hold the database, do i had to install it on client mashines too in order to access the db on server with remote connection ??


answering these question will rly help me too much.

thx in advance.

[mldisibio]

You could distribute copies of the Access database (.mdb file) to each user, and use ADO.Net to connect to the file. There is no need to have Access installed on the client machines.
Bind to An ADO.Net Data Source

This is okay if the data is read-only. If it is read/write, then each database will be different than the others after users make updates.

A better solution is to use SQL Server Express which is free.

You only need to install SQL Server on one PC or server, and each client will have an ADO.Net connection string which connects to it remotely. The clients do not need SQL Server installed on their PC. They might need an odbc driver though.

Connection Strings
Sample Connection Strings for SQL or Access.
Enable Remote Connection to SQL Express

You can also distribute the SQL Server Express database with your application if you prefer that solution.

[Shenno]

so as i got from your answer there are 2 solutions.

to use access mdb file on server and connect remotely to server with no access installed on client or server.

or have sql server instance and db file "MDF" on server machine,, and client can connect to server with no instance of ms sql server on that client.

THX Very Much =)