INFO: Acceler8DB Databases on Share Network Drives

The information in this article applies to:

Acceler8DB, Release 4.6 and 4.7
Windows
OS/2
Novell
AS/400
Deploy

SUMMARY:

Here is some information on what is needed to place an Acceler8DB database on a Shared Network Drive (e.g. AS/400 IFS, Novell Drive).

STATUS:

Current.

MORE INFORMATION:

NOTE: Please coordinate with your Network Administrator or your Server Software Vendor (e.g. IBM) for more information. The database and necessary data files will be "housed" on the Server; however, this setup will not operate in a traditional Client-Server model.

NOTE: Windows 9x is not supported with ADB 5.0 nor ADB 4.7 per schedule: http://www.asna.com/endofserviceschedule.asp

To place Acceler8DB databases on Shared Networked Drives, you must have these requirements:

The client can only be a Windows 95 / 98;
ASNA Deployment installed on the client;
Acceler8DB Engine installed on the client (a database engine license is required);
Any drive share that your client can see, and is mapped to (See Figure 1).

Figure 1

This network share can be on Windows NT / 2000 / XP workstation or server, NetWare servers, OS/2 servers, or the AS/400 (there are probably other servers as well that can provide an ASCII share to PCs, e.g. Unix or Linux).

NOTE: The images below are examples and are used for illustrative purposes. We highly recommend running thorough application and database testing prior to deploying into a production environment.

TIP: Make sure your client can "see" the Share Folder on the Shared Network Drive before creating a Database Label (See Figure 2).

Figure 2

TIP: Make sure no other files are in the folder where the database files will reside on your network shared drive. This will allow easier maintenance of the files. Additionally, you can not have your database folder as the share (See Figure 3 and Figure 4). We recommend that a higher level folder that contains the database folder be the network share (See Figure 2).

Figure 3

Figure 4

Disadvantages for having Acceler8DB databases on mapped drives:

You can only have one client access the database at one time. This is not a true Client-Server model;
Clients can only be Windows 95 or 98. Windows NT, 2000, or XP need to have the database and data files local to the machine. An error from Windows NT, 2000, XP clients is: Error Creating Shared Memory File (See Figure 5);
Clients have the Acceler8DB Engine installed, thus consuming a license;
Security issues may be present and may need to be addressed (Windows 95 / 98 / XP Home operating systems don't have a "real" security model installed).

Figure 5

AS/400 as the network share:

If you're using OS/400 V4R2 or higher, you can store the database in a folder that resides in the root area of the IFS. To do so, you need to use OS/400's NetServer (an intrinsic part of OS/400) to carve a network drive share out of the root IFS. See the redbook listed at the link below for details on how to use NetServer.

We have noticed that NetServer substantially outperforms Client Access's old shared folders. You may have different performance results. If you're using pre-V4R2 OS/400, you can still do it, but you must use Client Access's shared folders.

We have noticed typically this to be a very slow mechanism and you might not be happy with the results. You could also use any third-party emulator's shared folders/NetServer-like drive mapping facilities.

IBM's NetServer redbook link:

"http://publib-b.boulder.ibm.com/Redbooks.nsf/9445fa5b416f6e32852569ae006bb65 f/2f7280d11aab1032852567bd008190d5?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,netserver"

(If the link fails, go to http://www.redbooks.ibm.com and search for "netserver".)

Novell (NetWare) as the network share:

If you're using Novell, you can store the database on a Share drive. Make sure all of your clients can see the network share and map a drive accordingly.

Windows as the network share:

If you're using Windows, you can store the database on a Share drive. Make sure all of your clients can see the network share and map a drive accordingly.