Looking for a substitute to access replication

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A customer - in fact, they are a few independent people working together remotely - use an Access database. They travel with their laptops. For synchronising their data we currently use mdb replication.

Access 2013 does no longer support replicatied databases, so they may have to stay with 2010 forever - until Microsoft ends support for this version. I have currently no idea on how we can secure the application for the future.

A web-based database is no choice as in the more rural area we all live in there is often no connection unless you have access to a cable - which cannot be expected at customer sites. Replication is done when they get back to their home offices where they have cable-based network access.

Does anybody have a good idea on how to solve this?

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Albert D. Kallal On BEST ANSWER

If table sizes are in general below 5000 rows, then a possible solution would be to use office 365 (the small business essential plans is about $5 per month).

With the above one account, you would push the Access table(s) up to office 365 (they become SharePoint lists). Access 2010 and beyond has built in replication for such tables. Thus the application will continue to run “off line”, and then any user when they have an internet connection (even wi-fi at a coffee shop) can sync and the data will thus be shared with all users. So all users can share the one account (they can use the same logon, or you can invite up to 500 users for free – your grand total cost will still only be about $5 per month).

If the tables in general are larger then 5000 rows, then the above suggestion to run sql server local with replication is a good bet.

I demonstrate in this video how to move your tables up to office 365/SharPoint

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL27E956A1537FE1C5&feature=plcp

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Gustav On

You could move the backend database to SQL Server. The free Express version can run locally on any modern laptop and act as a replication slave.

At the office however, you will need an SQL Server Standard - at a cost - as it can act as replication master.

A guide is here: SQL Server Replication Step by Step