Considering Your Networking Environment

In time, BookAccents will be optionally ported to a true Client Server Environment, should sufficient demand be apparent.  Currently, however there are  three ways of implementing BookAccents:

 

  1. Single User.  Only one computer may access a given Database.

  2. Peer-to-Peer.

    1. One computer is set aside to hold the database.  This computer may also be RARELY used to perform other functionality.

    2. One of the computers contains the database.  As well as performing all tasks asked of it by its computer operator, it must also provide data from the database (contained within) to other computers on the network requesting information.

 

Although Peer-to-Peer Networking this is quite cost effective, it can create severe operational problems.  To save money, it is possible to have one computer serve both as a workstation i.e. a Cash Register and also contain the Database files.

 

Client/Server Network

Peer to Peer Network

In a Client/Server environment, one high performance, high quality computer is dedicated as the "Server".  All of you database file reside on this computer.  It is NOT used to execute BookAccents.  Many "Client" computer may be efficiently connected to the Server.

In a Peer to Peer network you load your database files on one of the computers that is also being used to execute BookAccents.

 

There is no advantage to doing this other than cost.

 

 

 

Should you wish to do so (use a machine to hold the database, as well as being used for a workstation), remember that this computer may have to a great dealt of work during the day.   We have implemented this release of BookAccents using Microsoft Access' Database.  This saves a great deal of money, but the tradeoff is that during intensive operations, such as book lookups, both the computer requesting the lookup as well as the computer containing the book database (loosely called the server in this example) handle all of the data contained in the database during every lookup operation.  If the server is also called upon to perform an intensive operation such as its own lookup it will seem that both computers have become very sluggish.

 

We have found that it during these times of intensive operation on the server, Microsoft Windows is extremely vulnerable to failure resulting in data corruption.  In almost every circumstance, the database can be reestablished by rebuilding.

 

Our Computer Configuration