From SSMS, I am querying an Excel file using the Microsoft Access database engine.

From the database server, this works :

Access a local file
Access a remote file

From a remove server, when testing on the same two files, only the first one works :

Access the same the database server local file (option 1 as above)
Cannot access the same the remote server file (option 2 as above)

Obviously, this is a security issue. Anyone would have an idea what is missing?