Ideas on tackling a few tough issues for a project

Hello,

I'm pretty sure this is where I post a query like this.

Well i'm thinking about making a new program. This would probably my most complicated and largest program I would have/ or would make to date.

For now i'm just trying to think of how to overcome some issues that I can think of now.

The Purpose

- I want to build a program that can manage the loans, clients and all relevant application data tailored for a finance company
- keep track of loans, loan repayments, late payments, changes in payments/rates, fees etc
- keep track of client data, application data etc
- have the potential to allow for remote connectivity via a spin off program: ie,
=> develop another application that can connect to the database remotely (over the internet) and gain access to certain information

- I plan to use SQL Server (Express) 2008 (to start or to test it obviously - will upgrade as required)

Potential Issues (known)


Security

- I came accross this issue before with another program
- I had encrypted the data that was entered into the database using a custom encryption via VB.NET
- Now I ran into some 'difficulties' when it came to searching
- I would have to decrypt the data and put that into a temp database, which would take a long time especially if the database grows with data

- so now, considering that sensitive financial, client data will be stored on the database what approach should be taken to keep the database safe and secure within stuffing up the search times etc?
- before a few ppl mentioned encrypted the database itself, is this a 'good' approach? or what other methods are available to me?

- also, i've mentioned below, there will be remote access to the database over the internet, so this further adds to the importance of a descent amount of security being used to protect the data

Repayment Tracking

Ok, this is a different type of area.. not so much a technical aspect per se, but one in which is a large component of the program, and one in which has me stumped

- Basically I need some way to track the repayments of clients, and I would need to see whether or not someone has missed a payment or if they're late etc
- with regards to reading payments, this can be taken from the online bank statements, which will need some manual input
- there will most likely be a loan account number as a reference for that repayment
- each loan will obviously be assigned a loan account number, that is generated by the program upon approval of a pending loan

- now, what is the most efficient, easiest, effective method for tracking repayments.
- my first thought was, have like an amortized table of repayments, which would show the number of total repayments that would have to be made...
- then somehow I would need to assign dates (that takes into consideration, weekends and public holidays etc - which is another issue in itself)
- but then a potential flaw of this is that what if the client wishes to change their payment frequency, say from weekly to Monthly, this would obviously have an impact on the amortized repayment schedule, so then stuffing everything up
- so this is one problem that i'm have a HUGE problem of trying to think of solutions on overcoming it


Remote Access

- I sort of touched on the point that I want to allow for remote access to the database (over the internet)
- I have been able to to remote access on a network
- I have also worked with Web Services connecting to an Access DB, but I will be using SQL Server (Express) 2008 for this particular program

- and i'm certain one can connect to the database over the internet, but I'm not quite certain how
- I know its possible to use a web host to organise a SQL Server with them etc... but, for testing purposes, I don't want to be paying a cr** load of money just to test it
- I was thinking of just using a computer acting as a 'server' and then trying to connect to this computer remotely (via the internet)
- is this even possible?
- how can I achieve something like this?

Well so far, these are my main concerns before I even get started with the project.

I'm sure some of you would have had some experience dealing with some aspect of the above issues, I would REALLY appreciate it if you could shed some light on possible ways I can approach these issues.

But I do think that apart from the database issues, a core component of this program is the Repayments component. And this is the part that has me absolutely confused.

Many thanks for your help in advance.

Kind Regards,

lianp.

hello,

Can anyone please shed some light on any part of of my query (security, repayment tracking, remote access)??

thank you..

lianp.

ok,

I seem to have come up with an idea (maybe not the best) but it's something - it's for the repayments tracking component.


now I guess I need some input for the other things:

- security
- remote access

now i'm certain people have come accross these issues in past projects, care to share yours thoughts please? =)


regards,

lianp.