h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Or, alternatively, I'm trying to figure out a way of putting certain database files onto a server so they can be accessed, in real time, via the net...

never touched SME Server Manager, sorry.
What do you mean by database files? What database?
Is the intent just to have a directory that (presumable authenticated) people can access and open/download files from?

That's roughly the idea... the database files in question are proprietory to a certain piece of software...

For the time being, they're sat on a server which everyone in our office can access and when someone runs the software they can log onto the database...

The idea is that all changes to the database are written in real time with multiple users connected to the same base...

Now, what I'm looking for is a way of extending that so that it's not limited to workstations connected to our LAN, what I'm looking for is for someone exterior to the company, running the same software, to have access to the database files in parallel to internal users.

Hmmm, can't quite work out what you mean by 'database files'.
Are you talking about the actual system files that underlie the database and are used by it to store data?
Or are you talking about output files or log files or some other flat/formatted file?
Or is the file actually the database itself (as in an mdb for access for example)?

It sounds like you have a server based database and some proprietary software installed on various client PCs. And that this proprietary software access the database across the LAN. And it is the database itself which utilises these files, not the software on the PC or the user themselves.

Is the software even capable of connecting over the net?

If it is just a case of the software logging in to the database on the server then some sort of VPN type system should work. Which kinda relies on the user's ISP allowing VPN. I guess the SME thingy is a sort of VPN type doubry?

Hmm, not really my area though so I shall back out and let others try, it sounds to me like the sort of thing that needs the specialist to have a hands on look at your system and work out what would need to be changed (firewalls, routers etc) and what the software can/can't do.

Right, the software in question is used to translate documents.

The software itself is installed on a workstation and basically breaks a document down into 'phrases'...

These phrases are then stored in the database, along with the translation... So, if six months later you come across the same phrase, the software pulls it back out of the database...

The files I want to put on an 'outward facing' server are those containing all the phrases and translations.

Generally, you start up the software locally and then point it towards the database you want to open (on a server)... It shouldn't matter where the server is as long as you can get to it via Windows Explorer... However, for the moment the only way I can access our server from the outside world is via an ftp://ip address/ connection... and whenever you try and open the files from an outside computer it's trying to cache the files locally before accessing them instead of accessing them directly

That's why I was asking about SME Server - to see if there's a way of getting files onto it in a different manner

what database system is it? MySQL? MSSQL? dBase? PostgreSQL? Access? one of a myriad of others?

Even if you can tell us the file types that may allow us to narrow it down and so evaluate the capabilites and potential of your system for what you want to do and maybe give some ideas on how to do it safely.

On another note who would be using it from outside? General public? trusted members of your own organisation?

Until later...
BCNU - Crescent

SME server comes with MySQL by default: http://wiki.contribs.org/MySQL

I have not encountered SME server before, but it comes with an Apache web server and MySQL database server installed by default. I don't personally have much experience with these, but they are extremely popular (probably most of the web is founded on these two programs) and have a lot of tools and documentation available for them.

I think that accessing database files directly while the database is running is almost certainly going to break things. Additionally, like most transactional databases, MySQL uses a non-human readable file format, so you'd require something to parse it. I would recommend against this approach.
http://forge.mysql.com/wiki/MySQL_Internals_File_Formats

What you probably need is another application which talks to the database and gets out the information you need. This would likely be an applet running on your web server. If you want to avoid custom development, there are probably some sort of reporting services/analysis services/OLAP/business intelligence tools which would do what you need.

The file types are actually proprietary to the particular piece of software...

To give you a better idea, the setup currently is that they're sat on an internal server, and can be simultaneously accessed by everyone in the office...

What I'm looking for is to get the same files onto a password protected 'outward' looking server so that they can also be simultaneously accessed by someone outside of our office...

The only outward pointing server we've got at the moment set up as an FTP server running SME Server...

What I'm looking for is a way of connecting to that server from outside, not using FTP.

To give you an example, put a text file on the ftp server, access that server via windows explorer from outside our network, right click on the file and select 'open'...

What actually happens is that the text file opens up in internet explorer instead of using notepad...

The fact that file transfer protocols are being used are having some effect on how the external computer actually sees and accesses the file.

I'm looking for a way of putting a text file on the server so that when you access it from outside the building via windows explorer it actually opens up notepad, without caching the file locally or trying to download it.

Basically what I think I need is some kind of WAN.