Connect to SQL Server across the internet...

[lidds]

I need some advise and guidance as this is well out of my comfort zone.

I have developed an VB.Net application that works with SQL Server and currently connects to the SQL server over a network within the clients company, no problem here. One of my clients has asked the following question, which I'm sure is possible to do. My client is working with another company in a joint project and my client wants my software to be used within this other company, but all the data to be saved to the same SQL Server database. My client is happy to host the database, but I am unsure how to make my software connect to this database from the other company. I guess this would have to be done over the internet somehow, as they are not in the same network.

Both of these companies are very security conscious and therefore I need the most secure option to acheive this.

Anyway and all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks in advance

Simon

[Hack]

http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?t=643564

[mikeblas]

I don't think the linked FAQ gives very good information, as it completely ignores any networking solutions. The presumption seems to be that "connecting across the internet" means that the SQL Server machine is left sitting on the public internet, listening to connections on port 1434, and accepting connections from anyone who might walk by.

lidds, you don't seem to be asking for that. I think you just want to have your application run in one geographic location (your new customer's office) and have the database server hosting the application run in some other geographic location. Am I correct in that assessment? If so, then you're indeed most conveniently connecting "across the internet", but you're not necessarily doing anything that makes the database accessible by unauthorized parties.

Why not consider a VPN solution? Such an approach is securable and robust, and not that difficult to setup. It results in encrypted transmissions across the internet, and delivers exactly what you need to make the application work remotely.

[si_the_geek]

A VPN could well be a good solution in this case.


The FAQ article doesn't mention things like VPN's, because so far it is meant for the majority of cases we see here: people wanting users from any location to be able to connect directly to a database stored on a web host, so things like VPN's are not an option in those cases.

Feel free to reply to the FAQ article to add info about VPN's etc to it.

[mikeblas]

Feel free to update the FAQ to explain the scoping of the answer that's incongruent with the question. You could just copy and paste what you wrote here, as a start, so that readers aren't puzzled by the narrow focus.

[si_the_geek]

The first line of the FAQ article already explains the circumstances that it deals with:

People often ask how to connect to a database that is on a website from a program, but connecting directly to a web based database isn't a particularly wise move.

...and the title (which would probably change if further info was added) does state "on the internet" rather than something like "via the internet".

From experience I know that adding just a mention of alternatives (without any explanation etc) to FAQ articles is a bad idea, as it generates far more work than it saves.

[mikeblas]

I think this thread demonstrates that "on the internet" and "via the internet" are readily confused, and that the questioner might not know what they really want. Since you're OK with the FAQ as it stands, I don't have any motivation to improve it.