Appendix C: Setting up DataBridge2 on a network

Basics

DataBridge2 is not "network aware". It does not directly open TCP/IP connections to the server. It relies on windows to abstract that detail away in the form of a windows networking path or mapped drive letter. When disks are added to the system, a path to this information is stored in the CDStamp table of the cdstamp.mdb file. This path does not have to be a network drive. It can also be a path to a shared folder. An example of a valid path would be \\server\share\MyData. DataBridge2 only connects to the server to query the retrieval database, post to the transaction log, or retrieve images. An idle system does not maintain a connection to any databases or network resources. The server computer does not require any special configuration. It simply acts as a file server. Windows, Linux with Samba, or network-attached storage devices can all be used to serve files to your DataBridge2 clients.

File permissions

A typical network setup needs two folders, one for the retrieval database, and one for the DataBridge archive CD's. The retrieval database is all the files DataBridge2 needs to store the index information for each archive disk, all of which are Microsoft Access 97 databases. The other folder will contain the complete contents of each DataBridge archive CD in separate folders. The labeling is really not important. When we use DataBridge2 's load network option, a complete path to this disk will be stored.

• At least one DataBridge2 station will need to be the 'admin' station. This station or user will be responsible for maintaining and updating the databases used by DataBridge2. As such, they will need special permissions. This station will need read/write/create/modify/delete permissions in both folders.
• The other stations will need read-only access to both folders.
• It is recommended that a user list be created, instead of giving all users read-only permissions by default. This is because the tiff images that store your documents are not stored in a proprietary archive. Any user with a tiff viewer will be able to open images from the Cd rom directory at will.
• If your using a windows NT domain, setting up a group for this application seems to be the most efficient way to guarantee the security of the images them selves. The group should include the server.

Example:

XYZ Corp. has three disks (DataBridge Archive CDs). 00990001, 00990002, and 00990003 and they want to setup a file server for their DataBridge2 clients. The server's name is "CORP". The shared folder's name is "Common". Each client would need a network drive mapped to " \\CORP\Common ". For this example, we will use drive letter 'Q'.
This is how the server would appear to a properly setup client.

Last Updated: April 28, 2004