Re: Can one call an Access database on computer using the IP address?

On 29 Jul 2005 12:03:13 -0700, lkrubner@geocities.com wrote:

>
>An old friend of mine recently approached me and said something like:
>"I've a computer at my office that has an Access database running on
>it. We've most of our company info in there. We'd like to put a portion
>of it online as a dynamic site, but we don't want the database to leave
>our office. Our office is connected to the Internet through a static
>IP. Can you do it?"
>
>I said no, but I also said I'd look into it. Could a PHP script running
>on a web server make a call to that database to get info? How does that
>work?

To add to the other posts - yes, it can be done via ODBC - but there
are definite security risks.

1) Ensure your database is *outside* web space.
2) Use some sort of passwording/authentication.
3) Check that your scripts don't allow for SQL exploits, where
malicious users could wipe your data.
4) Keep *regular* backups of the database on another machine that is
not visible from outside.

If security isn't an issue, it's a fairly straightforward process -
though the precautions above are still worth implementing.

Adam.
Received on Tue Oct 18 02:06:07 2005