Afternoon all,

we have an application that runs embedded Firebird, version 2.2.3 Beta
(I think it's that one, it's the one that fixed the corrupted index
pages problem) and it has been suggested that in future, we should be
able to access the embedded database using server either locally on the
server or remotely as well.

Given that only one application can access the database when using
embedded, can someone please confirm the following for me please - I'm
unable to get an embedded download past the firewall to test things out,
sorry.

1. If the embedded app is currently using the database then the FB
Server will not be able to access the database either locally or allow
remote connections to it.

2. If the embedded app is not currently using the database then the FB
server will be able to connect or will allow remote connections to the
database.

3. If the FB Server is using the database - or has allowed a remote
connection, what happens if application then tries to use the database
in embedded mode? I suspect it will fail to connect as it cannot
subsequently lock the file for exclusive access while server is
connected.

Embedded FB will be running on Windows servers most likely Windows 2003
server. The intention is to install FB server on the same box and open
port 3050 to allow remote access using FB client (which will only be
installed on a limited number of desktops used by the DBAs for the
system).

Also, the application that runs embedded is one which logs in, does some
work, logs out, sleeps for a while and then starts the loop again. So
there is a window of opportunity for the server process to get a
connection while the application is sleeping.

We need to avoid potential conditions where using the FB Server or
remote connections will cause the application to hang or abort and, most
importantly, we wish to avoid corrupting the database. The application
must have priority over what the DBAs want to do.

The thinking behind this plan is that at present we are stuck if
anything happens with the database as we currently have no tools to look
inside the database if anything goes wrong, and it's a monumental PITA
to get a copy of the database off these servers and onto a (my) desktop
for further investigation - for assorted reasons of size, bandwidth and
security.

Many thanks.


Cheers,
Norman.

Norman Dunbar
Contract Senior Oracle DBA
Capgemini Database Team (EA)
Internal : 7 28 2051
External : 0113 231 2051


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