[AccessD] Access development in the cloud

[Gustav Brock]

Hi Paul

I guess you need a Remote Desktop running on a terminal server.
Those are available from many sources, like Azure, but every time I have looked into it, cost-effective is the last word that pops up, as the cheap instances to rent are way to slow to work with.

Couldn't your subcontractor have a machine running like yours?
Then you could simply push and pull the source (the complete frontend database) from a common source. For example, GitHub lets you host a few private repositories for free where you could store the frontend database and other relevant stuff for you and the subcontractor to share.

/gustav

-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: AccessD <accessd-bounces+gustav=cactus.dk at databaseadvisors.com> På vegne af Paul Wolstenholme
Sendt: 6. juni 2024 04:27
Til: Access Developers discussion and problem solving <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
Emne: [AccessD] Access development in the cloud

Hi,

Has anyone tried doing Access development in the cloud?  I'm looking for a cost-effective cloud solution that at least 2 people could log into remotely (although not necessarily at the same time and not necessarily with unique login credentials).
There are a number of providers with a bewildering array of options and non-obvious pricing.  Microsoft's Windows App, Google cloud and Amazon Web Services all have servers that are not too distant (from New Zealand) so I'm assuming lag will not be an issue.  There may be others by ploughing through the options is daunting!

It is getting to the time when I must upgrade my Access with SQL Server Express development environment.  The hardware platform and Access licence are both old and in need of renewal (but SQL Server Express is free).
Furthemore I'm sharing that development machine with a sub-contractor who is learning to take over the support of my customer.  It is working fine now but if I'm away then a hardware problem would be hard to deal with.  We need a development system that is separate from the customer's live system (and security concerns limit how we can access the live system anyway).

I'm wondering whether a development environment in the cloud might be an effective way of implementing a succession plan as I train my successor and eventually hand over that environment.
My full development environment also includes other software running on Windows that interacts with the same database.  That issue is outside the scope of this group but hopefully it might run in the same cloud.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul Wolstenholme