Interbase Access via Internet Connections

[Nader el Keilany]

Hi there !

I hope that someone could point me in the right direction here.

I will have two computer networks in two different locations (Windows XP
machines). Location A is suppose to hold the main server that holds an
Interbase 7 database. I would now need to enable the machines in location B
to connect to the database in Location A to retrieve data from that
database. Both location would have a broadband connection to the internet.

I am pretty lost here since this is an area I do not know anything about.
Where would I need to start. Can anyone give me a hint of how to approach
this. Perfect solution would be OK as well but since I am desperate I settle
for being pointed in the right direction...lol

Thank you....

Bye

Nader

[Bill Todd (TeamB)]

Assuming that the site with the server has static IP address you can
use a normal TCP/IP connection string and substitute the IP address
for the server name. For example:

10.10.10.10:c:\data\mydb.ib

This is easy but there is no security and no compression. Anyone can
intercept the packets you are sending accross the Internet and see
what they contain.

A better solution is to use a VPN. You can by a Linksys VPN router for
under $150. That gives you a secure remote connection to the network
where the database server is located.

--
Bill (TeamB)
(TeamB cannot respond to questions received via email)

[Robert Schieck (TeamB)]

There are lots of ways to do this.

You can just open the InterBase port on your firewall and connect from
lan b to the IB server on lana. I have done this from California to
Toronto Canada. It is not recommended because it allows anyone on the
Internet to see what you are sending.

What I do is build a multi-tiered application. The client application
talks to a server (not an InterBase server) and server talks to the
InterBase server. Depending upon the technology you choose the data can
be encrypted and compressed before it is sent out through the Internet.

What do you plan to use for client development?

hth

rob

[Nader el Keilany]

Hi there !

Thanks for you reply. Your comments were already helpful to me, whereas the
multi-tier approach is not yet clear to me...but I will try to get my head
around it... I will be using Delphi 7 as a developing platform.

thanks again

Nader

"Robert Schieck (TeamB)" <rsch...@mers.com> wrote in message
news:4057...@newsgroups.borland.com...

[Nader el Keilany]

Hi there !

Thank you for you prompt reply.

The VPN approach. I assume that each LAN will have one of those. Will the
VPN router encrypt/decrypt the packages ?

Sorry for being so basic but that is an area I have not really been exposed
to...

Thanks again

Nader

"Bill Todd (TeamB)" <n...@no.com> wrote in message
news:k5ce50h6r3upnnu8g...@4ax.com...

[Bill Todd (TeamB)]

On Tue, 16 Mar 2004 17:35:03 -0000, "Nader el Keilany"
<n.ke...@virgin.net> wrote:

>The VPN approach. I assume that each LAN will have one of those. Will the
>VPN router encrypt/decrypt the packages ?

I am not a VPN expert. What I _think_ I know is based on what I have
read. You only need the VPN router on the LAN where the IB Server is
located. My understanding is that everything you need to connect to a
VPN comes with Win2k and XP.

[Dan Palley]

"Bill Todd (TeamB)" <n...@no.com> wrote in message

news:ojne50lkn3pf01qb7...@4ax.com...

> On Tue, 16 Mar 2004 17:35:03 -0000, "Nader el Keilany"
> <n.ke...@virgin.net> wrote:
>
> >The VPN approach. I assume that each LAN will have one of those. Will the
> >VPN router encrypt/decrypt the packages ?
>
> I am not a VPN expert. What I _think_ I know is based on what I have
> read. You only need the VPN router on the LAN where the IB Server is
> located. My understanding is that everything you need to connect to a
> VPN comes with Win2k and XP.

Actually, Win2k Server (and 2003 Server) implement VPN server functionality
in software so you could skip the VPN router.

Dan

[Bill Todd (TeamB)]

Interesting. I just took a look at the on-line help for VPN's on Win2k
server and it is vintage Microsoft. Page after page of what and not
one word about how. :)

With my level of VPN knowledge I suspect it would take me a man-year
to set up Windows 2000 and 30 minutes to set up the Linksys router.

Thanks for the info.

[Dan Palley]

"Bill Todd (TeamB)" <n...@no.com> wrote in message

news:huve50d3i41nga181...@4ax.com...

> Interesting. I just took a look at the on-line help for VPN's on Win2k
> server and it is vintage Microsoft. Page after page of what and not
> one word about how. :)
>
> With my level of VPN knowledge I suspect it would take me a man-year
> to set up Windows 2000 and 30 minutes to set up the Linksys router.

Actually, there's a wizard in 2000 to configure it. Here's a detailed KB
article if you're interested:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308208

In Windows 2003 Server, it's pretty much a one-click process.

I've had issues with VPN's on Linksys routers; the main problem seems to be
that they only support one VPN session at a time, so if you have two users
behind the router, only one can have a VPN connection.

Dan

[Bill Todd (TeamB)]

Thanks again Dan.

[Nader el Keilany]

Thanks a lot (both of you)...I will investigate both possibilities. At least
I know now a direction I can follow...

I appreciate your help...bye for now

Nader

"Bill Todd (TeamB)" <n...@no.com> wrote in message

news:ss8h50905ihj7ci38...@4ax.com...

[Patrick Moloney]

Dan,
Thanks I've taken note of your Microsoft reference. I tried to setup VPN on
W2KServer a couple of years ago and never succeeded. Further, I think those
changes may have damaged the FTP setup in some way, and that never has worked
correctly. Now I try not to touch it. Maybe someday I'll get brave again and
try. It looks promising.