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From: bmartin@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Brian Martin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps,comp.sys.mac.comm
Subject: Re: 4th Dimension & Networking over the phone
Summary: not worth the trouble
Message-ID: <10381@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>
Date: 23 Nov 90 14:20:52 GMT
References: <1990Nov23.000340.1514@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Reply-To: bmartin@uhccux.UUCP (Brian Martin)
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.apps
Organization: University of Hawaii
Lines: 50

In article <1990Nov23.000340.1514@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca> judge@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Peter Judge) writes:
>
>I need to network three to five macs running a 
>4th Dimension application. Three machines are
>located in separate regions so I would have to 
>connect them via telephone lines; the others would
>be connected by cable.
>
>My questions are these:
>
>1)	How does 4th Dimension make use of modems to 
>	share a distributed database?
   It doesn't.

>	Does it contain routines to implement networking
>	over phone lines, or do I need a bridge? 
   You would need a bridge.

>2)	Is there recommended networking software
>	to use with 4th Dimension (Appletalk, TOPS...)?
    Data corruption problems have occurred with TOPS.


Bad idea. 4D uses a file server rather than a client/server model, so phone
line networking is next to impossible with 4D. The closest you could
come is to mimic a distributed database design, with batch updating
between central database and remote databases at periodic intervals.
A more expensive approach is to use 4D as a front end to an Oracle database,
which should support the distributed databases.

Alternatively, you could run "headless" macs at your central
site, each with timbuktu/remote or carbon copy mac running, and access
these macs via v.42bis modems from your remote sites. That may
be a reasonable implementation, since you transfer screen images rather than
data across the phone lines. You could enter and review data on-screen, but
you wouldn't be able to print at a remote site using this approach.

Best regards,

====
    Brian K. Martin, M.D.
    Martin Information Systems, Ltd.
    1103 9th Ave, Suite 203
    Honolulu, HI 96816-2403
    Voice (808) 733-2003
    Fax (808) 733-2011

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