Accessing a database on a mapped drive in c#

Question

I have built a SQL database program that holds part numbers and details about them. Right now the program works locally on my machine. However, what I need to do is have the program access the database on a network drive (eg. the L:\\ drive). This way, a user can have their own copy of the program, but all the data that is sent and received is done to that common networked database. I have been playing around and also searching online, but cannot seem to find anything, and I am a database beginner. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

What you want to do is install a sql server instance somewhere on your network . Then use a connection string rather than a drive location to access the data.

This is the standard way to share data across applications.

Answer 2

THe problem with this approach is locking and multiuser support to put it simply. You will run into users contending for access to the file . You need a DB server ( SQL Server , Sql Server Express, MySQL , etc etc) to handle this problem for you . The DB server can running on that network server .