George,

>OK, Walter. First, latency on a LAN. If there is any write caching going on (which there probably is), there's a problem with latency. If the hardware reports that the bits are on the disk before actually writing them, there's a problem with latency.

Even, SQL server or any other server has this problems. This why they have transaction logs: to secure to have a consistent state of the database.

>In contrast, because SQL server is optimized and written for WinNT/2K it communicates directly (via the API) with the hardware and specifically states that in the instance of the controller caching the writes to get another controller where this can be disableed.

I doubt if this is true. Again the corruption problem generally is solved with
transaction logs. Solving latency issues with specific hardware communications is maybe nice in performance terms, but add nothing to ensuring a consistent state of the database. when a crash occurs when a transaction is written, the written bytes have to be reverted (to meet the ACID properties) anyways if the whole transaction has not been commited.

>I would remind you, also, that in terms of the overall scheme of things that Fox is being or has been positioned already to serve in the middle tier.

So.. ? We cannot build front-end applications ? We cannot make a back-end server component ? VFP is famous because it can serve at all positions from front-end to back-end.

>>So no need for MSDE ? No, I just don't agree. The VFP backend server might not be comparable with other DBMSs like SQL-server and Oracle etc when it comes to security, data protection, scalability etc, but it can be a great solution for those (like me) who occasionally have to get VFP data run a simple DS program over a wan. I've got a few (standard) software packages which run on a 512 kps WAN with a bad performance. I can't get the client to install and SQL-server because of massive costs in licensing (100+ users) and maintenance.

>No, MSDE is a viable alternative.

Not viable when talking about 100+ users and/or adressing more than 2 Gigabyte.

>>A VFP server solution would have its place in the land of database software. I've bought a accounting system which runs on a MSDE database. The performance of this baby is sometimes real bad (Runs on a Intel PIII 700 Mhz, 128 MB workstation). MSDE crashed ones after which I had to reinstall my W98 machine, because I could not figure out how to either repair it or reinstal it. For these purposes I see application for a VFP accounting database on the server.

>I just don't think it's practical.

That's a matter of opinion. I think it is. I don't find it practical to build server components with extra thrid party software and additional complexity (with the risk of hard- or unsolvable bugs). I'd like to keep it simple.

I'll think we have to agree to disagree.

Walter