Question C# Windows Forms Database - Setup recommendations
- Thread starter Justin96
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Skydiver
Staff member
Just my opinion:
Given the Slammer worm that hit in the early 2000s and the impact of that, most people are wary of just exposing and Microsoft SQL databases directly to the Internet. Realize that Slammer was hitting machines that were on LANs and not even exposed to the Internet. What more could possibly go wrong if the database server is exposed directly? Often, the common solution is to have the SQL database be hosted on a VM that sits behind a firewall, and there'll be another VM that is exposed to the Internet that just just exposes web services and makes the appropriate limited set of database queries.
Given the Slammer worm that hit in the early 2000s and the impact of that, most people are wary of just exposing and Microsoft SQL databases directly to the Internet. Realize that Slammer was hitting machines that were on LANs and not even exposed to the Internet. What more could possibly go wrong if the database server is exposed directly? Often, the common solution is to have the SQL database be hosted on a VM that sits behind a firewall, and there'll be another VM that is exposed to the Internet that just just exposes web services and makes the appropriate limited set of database queries.
This question really has nothing to do with Windows Forms. Thread moved.
As suggested, if you want an online, multi-user database then you would generally create a web service and host that along with the database somewhere, then have all your clients make calls to that web service. Those clients could be WinForms but they could be anything else too. If you're coding in .NET, you would generally create a Web API project for the web service these days. Web API is basically MVC without the V, i.e. the controller actions return data to be consumed, rather than a view to be displayed.
Which host is most appropriate depends on a number of factors. If you want SQL Server then you'll almost certainly have to pay, but you may find a MySQL host for free. It won't make any difference to your clients as all they'll see is the web service. You wouldn't expect to get the same level of service from a free host though, so guaranteed up-time and the like is the sort of thing you'd have to pay for.
Which host is most appropriate depends on a number of factors. If you want SQL Server then you'll almost certainly have to pay, but you may find a MySQL host for free. It won't make any difference to your clients as all they'll see is the web service. You wouldn't expect to get the same level of service from a free host though, so guaranteed up-time and the like is the sort of thing you'd have to pay for.
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