Re: Making DB changes as client... crazy??

On Aug 11, 7:47 pm, Lynn Allen <l...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 2008-08-11 14:25:02 -0700, lansingoogle <filema...@xxxxxxxxx> said:

 I have been doing most of my development/maintenance work
as a remote client of the live databases.  According to the posts,
this is highly likely to cause corruption and disaster when the
connection is lost at a critical moment in the DB alteration process.

Yep. As attested to by more than a few of the world-class developers of
my acquaintance, when working on schema (as in actually being IN Define
Database) and the connection drops, the frequency of significant damage
is high. Reports include loss of everything on the Relationship graph,
all field definitions, all layouts, or all data, or just the access
privileges, which trashes access to the entire file. The worst is when
you've defined a new calculation and that "evaluating" dialog is up and
kaBAM!



OK.  So of course I HAVE lost connections umpteen times while working
on these databases, terribly frustrating, but as far as I _know_, it
hasn't crippled anything yet.

If you're working on scripts or layouts, then the probability of damage
is far less.

If you must work remotely on a frequent basis, VPN into a guest machine
on their network and/or use PCAnywhere. Then, if the connection between
you and the client drops, the client machine keeps grinding away.  It's
being a direct remote guest that causes the most risk.

My dilemma is that the databases are in a constant state of design-
flux, with new feature requests coming all the time, and I don't have
(easy) access to any of the servers.

Then it's really really REALLY important that the client have reliable,
rolling backups, and that you have some kind of intermittent VPN access
to download a backup set.  Not having direct remote client access is
actually a protection to you and the customer.  As noted above, VPN or
PCAnywhere access is MUCH safer for the dbs.

I have both server access (through PCAnywhere) and client machine
access (same) at every customer site. I never ever ever do significant
changes as a remote guest on customer files.  Most often, they are made
first on my own copies, then uploaded, or duplicated on the customer
files.

On the other hand, I routinely do remote guest development on hosted
files on my own Virtual Private Server before they are deployed to the
customer. I also have an hourly backup schedule, a rolling daily
schedule at mid-morning, noon, midafternoon, and late evening, and a
rolling schedule for each day of the week so if a remote-connection
damage event DOES happen, I have plenty of choices to roll back to in
the case of a connection drop.

So far my connection has proved very solid, thanks to Verizon FIOS and
a data center right on the backbone in downtown LA. But I don't fool
around with having good copies available just in case.

You just have to know what your risks are, and spend the money to
minimize those, including getting copies of PCAnywhere as needed to
securely access your customer's servers. Many IT depts are wary of
allowing ports open, but will have no problem with the security
provided by PCA.
--
Lynn Allen
--www.semiotics.com
Member Filemaker Business Alliance
Long Beach, CA

Thanks for the replies, Lynn and Chris. My operation is so small that
many of your solutions are not inherently do-able, but I'm taking the
warnings and experience to heart and changing some of my practices.
Fortunately, my clients do have robust backup regimes, and they are
small enough that a little down-time in the event of a 'disaster'
would not be terrible.

I'll certainly take more care in how I connect and work with the
files, and I'm a wiser man now.

thanks, again
Lanse
.

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