asked on Replicate MS Access database over sonicwall global VPN client
I was able to successfully connect a windows 2003 server to another by installing the Sonicwall global vpn client on one server and connecting to my TZ180 router. It assigns an IP correctly and allows traffic to pass. At first it was difficult to Drag and Drop files from a network share at \\ipaddress\sharename to the other servers desktop due to "zone warnings". I added the local IP of the remote server to the trusted zone of IE and that prompt went away. It appears that file access is normal because I can open files over the VPN or retrieve and copy them.
The problem is that I cannot sync an Access database over the vpn link. I could do this easily from my previous router. I have already tried "allow all traffic" firewall settings in the Sonicwall TZ180 for each public static IP and private static IP of each server machine. The database tries to replicate, but gets stuck after 1 progress bar unit and will not complete, claiming "disk or network error", like it is losing VPN connection or something. I can immediately go to Windows Explorer and can browse easily to the replication share location of the database. Anything with Sonicwalls that would prevent the replication?
I should also mention that I tried to use Windows based VPN and it had the same effect. I used RRAS in windows 2003 to connect the client server, and it used to work fine through my previous router. The RRAS still function sthrough the Sonicwall (enabling VPN pass-through) but the database syncronization is still blocked. Your help is much appreciated.
The problem is that I cannot sync an Access database over the vpn link. I could do this easily from my previous router. I have already tried "allow all traffic" firewall settings in the Sonicwall TZ180 for each public static IP and private static IP of each server machine. The database tries to replicate, but gets stuck after 1 progress bar unit and will not complete, claiming "disk or network error", like it is losing VPN connection or something. I can immediately go to Windows Explorer and can browse easily to the replication share location of the database. Anything with Sonicwalls that would prevent the replication?
I should also mention that I tried to use Windows based VPN and it had the same effect. I used RRAS in windows 2003 to connect the client server, and it used to work fine through my previous router. The RRAS still function sthrough the Sonicwall (enabling VPN pass-through) but the database syncronization is still blocked. Your help is much appreciated.
VPNMicrosoft Access
Last Comment
netsmithcentral
You should never attempt to do this over a WAN connection, regardless of speed/performance claims. You can try internet replication (which may or may not work), but the safest method is to have your enduser move thier replicas to your LAN and perform the sync there. The "disk or network" error is a typical error that occurs whenever a connection is dropped during a read/write process with an Access database.
ASKER
What is internet replication? Different option for replicating access? Other than that I don't see the problem. My VPN access sync has worked quite well, with actually no sync errors for 4+ years. The problem has to be my Sonicwall or a domain related problem. I was incorrect when I said that I can "browse easily" to the network share. Recent troubleshooting points out that actually it is much slower (since the Sonicwall) to access a network share at \\ipaddress\sharename. It sometimes takes 2-3 minutes to pull up the files. After the share comes alive and I try to grab a simple text file from it to the local desktop, I get a warning that says "Do you want to copy files from this zone"? I researched that problem, and added the necessary IP address to the Intranet under IE Security options, and have eliminated that warning. I should point out I never got that before my router switch to the Sonicwall, and browsing the VPN over the share was very fast.
I have tried every firewall setting on the Sonicwall I can think of. I have opened all traffice to/from both public IP's, used the global vpn client, DMZ'd both servers, nothing seems to work. My laptop can do a similar DB sync from home, but it is also joined to my domain. Remote domain controllers (that have different domains) seem to be affected the most, but as I've said none of that seemed to matter before the Sonicwall. Any help is appreciated, I'm getting desperate for a solution.
I have tried every firewall setting on the Sonicwall I can think of. I have opened all traffice to/from both public IP's, used the global vpn client, DMZ'd both servers, nothing seems to work. My laptop can do a similar DB sync from home, but it is also joined to my domain. Remote domain controllers (that have different domains) seem to be affected the most, but as I've said none of that seemed to matter before the Sonicwall. Any help is appreciated, I'm getting desperate for a solution.
ASKER
By the way, I did some research on Internet replication after posting my last comment, and it appears that this form of replication and the replication manager included with Access 97-2000 was disabled in Access 2003. The preferred method of replication according to many websites that I came across was actually the VPN style, like I have been using.
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