> From: reed mideke [mailto:rfm@...]

Hi,

> What it boils down to if you want multiple servers to access one
> database, is that you need a distributed lock manager. Not
> impossible, but certainly a large can of worms.

Before this turns into a solution looking for a problem, maybe we could
define the reasons why you might want to have the database file(s) on a
separate machine to the IBServer.

We have already had the suggestion about having the database file on a
Netware or other fileserver and the IBServer on a real server <g>, this will
only require 'single server' access to the database file(s)

I can see a use for failover situations, where if a IBServer goes down, the
client apps can connect to another one 'instantly', this will only require
'single server' access to the database file(s).

The other reason I can see is for Load balancing. A lot of people,
including myself, have a number of Servers running for load balancing
reasons, but currently this requires each server to have a replicated
database file(s) and all the 'issues' that go with that. If the database
file(s) could be on a separate machine, it would make life a lot easier and
would not require replication functionality. This method would require
multiple server access to the database file(s)

Can't think of any more off hand.

Cheers

Phil