Networking

If you have multiple employees or if you run your business from multiple locations, then you will probably want to share your data across multiple computers. There are several ways to do this in SixBit including remotely connecting to a computer running SixBit or sharing the database across a local network. You will install SixBit on all the computers, decide which computer will be the database server, and then make each one link to the database on the server depending upon the method chosen.

The relationship between SixBit and SQL Server makes sharing databases very customizable. Before discussing the different ways to share a database, a short discussion on how SixBit and SQL Server work together will help you understand how all this works.

SQL Server and SixBit

You may recall from your initial installation that SQL Server was installed as a prerequisite to installing SixBit. Even if you had a copy of SQL Server installed on your computer SixBit installed its own "instance" of SQL Server and called it "SIXBITDBSERVER". Think of this as SixBit's own private copy of SQL Server that will not interfere with other copies (or be interfered with). An empty database named "SixBit" is then created in the SIXBITDBSERVER instance during installation. When the installation is finished, there are two very different programs running.

Each full installation of SixBit will install SQL Server 2014 Express Edition if it is not already on the computer. If you have a lot of computers to install SixBit on, you can install the client version of SixBit. The client version doesn't install the database and instead asks for the location of the SQL Server instance the first time it is run. The full installation and client installation are the same install file. When installing, the option to perform a full or client installation will be given.

SQL Server is running an instance called SIXBITDBSERVER and has a database in it named "SixBit". Regardless of whether SixBit is installed or uninstalled, the instance of SQL Server and your database will still exist.

When SixBit runs, it simply needs to point to a database to open. It doesn't matter what the database or instance is called, or even where it is located, it just needs you to point to where it is. Of course since we create the initial database during the installation, we know where it is and will load it for you by default, but you are always free to go to the File Menu and choose Database > Open Database to choose a different database.

In most common installations, SQL Server is installed on the same machine that is running SixBit, and those users do not ever need to think about the relationship between the program and the database. However, as your business grows, there are advantages to sharing a database across a local area network. With SQL Server you can do this pretty easily.

Remember that SixBit doesn't care where the database is, it just needs to be able to connect to it. SQL Server can be installed on any computer on your LAN, and if you configure it to allow external connections, then you can connect to it from any computer that can get to the LAN. The Open Database window allows users to specify the computer or URL where the database is located, the instance name, connection userid and password and the name of the database. If SQL Server is set up properly to allow remote connections then connecting from SixBit would be no different than connecting from any other database application to your SQL Server (like SQL Server's Management Studio for instance.)

Any number of people can connect to the same database without any problems, therefore, if you have it on a LAN, then anyone on the network can connect.

When choosing the computer you want to store your database on, we highly recommend you pick the fastest computer with the newest operating system. In our tests, we've found that there are issues connecting to databases on Non Windows 10 computers through a firewall. If you want to use a firewall we highly recommend you store your database on a Windows 10 computer if you have it.

Different Ways to Share a Database

There are several different ways to share a database.

You can:

The following comparison table will help you make your decision.

Method	Pros	Cons	Cost
Remote Connection	moderately fast cheap easy to set up	only one person can use the computer during the connection	Free
LAN	very fast cheap moderate setup	requires all computers be connected in the same physical location	Free