Backup alternatives for a 3 user database

[Terry Bell]

My client has an A97 application, been running for 7 years, split
front/backend. They backup each night and sometimes half way through
each day. If the backend corrupts, they restore the latest backup and
re-apply the latest transactions. This is not very easy to do and
they want a better way.
What are the options?
Upsize to A2003/Sql Server?
What kind of licence do you need for 3-user SQL Server - do you need
full SQL Server of MSDE?
Can SQL Server automatically switch to a backup, replicated copy in
the event of a crash?
Can you simply clone the backend component with some kind of hardware
mirroring?
Access replication a possibility?
Any other suggestions?
TIA Terry

[Lyle Fairfield]

Terry Bell wrote:

Any other suggestions?
TIA Terry

Find out what the cause of the corruption is. Repair that.

(Contrary to many postings here, I believe that corruption of a properly
designed, carefully programmed database application, running on a solid
network will NEVER happen! I have been creating and selling Access dbs
for too long (I think from before 1992?), and I have never experienced a
corrupted mdb file nor has a client ever reported one.)

You MAY be able to use

SaveasText, 6, "", filepath

to back up your tables while the db is being used.

[Terry Bell]

Lyle Fairfield <ly******@yahoo.ca> wrote in message news:<20*****************@read1.cgocable.net>...

Terry Bell wrote:

Any other suggestions?
TIA Terry

Find out what the cause of the corruption is. Repair that.

(Contrary to many postings here, I believe that corruption of a properly
designed, carefully programmed database application, running on a solid
network will NEVER happen! I have been creating and selling Access dbs
for too long (I think from before 1992?), and I have never experienced a
corrupted mdb file nor has a client ever reported one.)

You MAY be able to use

SaveasText, 6, "", filepath

to back up your tables while the db is being used.

Thanks for your thoughts Lyle. I envy your ability to develop pristine
mdbs. But it's not just mdb corruption; that's only happened three
times in seven years anyway. If the hard disk crashes or the
motherboard cooks you have the same problem. The customer wants
minimum fuss to get back on the air, and doesn't even want to worry
about having to re-apply the last 4 hours' transactions if at all
possible. Ideally he wants the system to tell him about it and switch
seamlessly to a backup system. Maybe this will be too expensive anyway
and he'll have to compromise in some way. I thought there might be
some SQL Server replication/backup capability or hardware/system
mirroring or something. Maybe I'm in the wrong forum.
Have you ever done anything like this in your systems?
BTW why do you say "MAY" be able to use SaveasText? Does it work or
not? I wouldn't want to consider it at all unless it was rock solid.