Database Creation Recommendations?

[scorpionmk]

I'm a programmer and I work well in 14 different program languages :D
I basically came here to find good 3D artists, and I found a great community that is a pleasure to be a part of :)

Now, the solution to your problem depends on more details about it. MS Access is one thing I never implement or recommend.

I have been developing data systems for many companies, so if you're looking for someone to work with your company, we can talk on IM and I will offer you solutions and plans.

But, if you are looking just for more info, then detail more info on what software are you using to update the database, where is the database stored, etc. I will give you some links where you can learn more.

Recently I just finished a project for around $750, the project included:
-> Installation and optimization of database servers.
-> Creation and organizing the database structure.
-> Custom Client software with employee authentication. (so every employee get's a user and password from the administrator, and they login in the software, so they can update/insert info in the database)
-> Custom Administrator software (managing users, backup schedule, user priviledges, and even custom time frame when a user can login)
-> Custom Backup service that monitors the database, does scheduled backups, etc.

The company also requested remote access to be available, so users/admin can login and manage the database from anywhere.
And ofcource, after every project the company get's full documentation and source code.

Another project I had worked on even included USB-Key based authentication.

So, it all depends on what software and what features you really need.

Hope I can help you out. :)

[Geta-Ve]

Wow! Great post.

I really like what you described in that project you did for the other company, many things there (if not all) I would definitely want in our database.

But let me try to give you and anyone else reading more info to describe what our database currently is and what we want it to do.

currently:

it updates via MS Access.. built in 'update & import' function which basically connects remotely to the other employees, downloads all their DB info and merges it with the 'back end' on our computers.

Every user has his/her own front end and back end and any/every time we want to know the info on another users computer we have to run the import and update routine which takes anywhere from 2 to 6 minutes (long time to wait when you want info)

everything is very separated from each other. no one shares info on the fly and editing company/client names or info has to be dealt with very specifically in case someone else has made a mistake. For instance if we have a client in our database named "John Smith" but when I originally entered the client in to the DB I mispelled his name "John Smth". So userXX imports my info and sees that I mispelled John Smith, so userXX fixes it. I then import and update...

whose info is right?! being a human I know that I made an error so if I were doing it manually I would know to allow that edition. however the computer wouldnt know and with thousands upon thousands of clients (and continually growing) we can't always be there to see if it is correct or not.

Its very slow, redundant and messy. It WORKS for what it does but its not entirely what we want, and since our current maintainer has a seperate job he doesn't seem to want to put in the extra effort to give us what we need.. (which is why I come here for help)



what we want:

idealy (and I am totally not sure if this is an actual ideal way to go about DB entry) we would want a web based interface so that we can log on anywhere using of course separate userID's and such. we would need it ultra secure, with automatic backups nightly. we need/want the ability to see revision history for each client/company and information held within. We want statistical tracking of information to know who has been entering what, when, etc.

We also want the DB to be stored in one central location (whether it be one computer or spanned accross many) so that we dont have to do the damn import and update routine, which, frankly, is ridiculous..

we would need many sorting options, organization options. we need to be able to generate printable reports from the data that is entered, whether it be grid based, list based, graph based, etc.

And most of all we need to be able to transfer everything we currently have entered from MS Access to a new system so that we dont need to spend months and months RE-entering all the info. This is an absolute MUST.

The usb-auth key sounds pretty wicked, but I think we could hold off on that idea for a later date, since there is only 4 of us currently it is not that big of a deal.

I COULD go in to further detail about specific info that we enter and such, but I will leave that for when we actually move forward on this and when the OK's are given by the higher ups and such.

Many many thanks for the great post! I look forward to your reply. If you want to go into more depth than what I have given feel free to post here or IM me. (I should have my accounts listed in my portfolio.

[scorpionmk]

Your company definitely needs a system update :)

I don't recommend the web-based system, but we'll talk about it on IM, I'll give you more details.

If everyone else is interested in this topic post below. :)

[Geta-Ve]

Sorry to bring this up once more (mods feel free to close or what not) but if there is anyone that has yet to see this thread give me a shout if you know of anyone that could potentially aid us.

Many many thanks. :)

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.