Figuring out a design

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adin - 24 Apr 2005 22:52 GMT

This may be more suitable for the new users section since I'm a new user, but
it's about design, so I'll try here first.

I've got a monster spreadsheet I'd like to put into Access. It's becoming a
bit unmanageable, so I'm thinking Access is the way to go.

My primary problems are with the nature of the relationships:

I have physical servers, virtual servers, and applications.
The virtual servers reside on the physical servers, so you will always have
a physical server.
Each virtual server instance will reside on two physical servers (they're
clusters)
However, not all physical servers have virtual servers.
All servers - whether they be physical or virtual - have applications.
The number of applications on one server can range from one to twelve.
The same application can reside on different servers, but if they are on a
virutal server, they will only be on other virtual servers, and the same
applies to physical servers (no mixing).

Any thoughts on how I should put this thing together?

Thanks,

Adin

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Parts Manager - 25 Apr 2005 15:40 GMT

"adin" <adin@discussions.microsoft.com>

> I've got a monster spreadsheet I'd like to put into Access. It's becoming
> a
> bit unmanageable, so I'm thinking Access is the way to go.

Adin,

I don't envy your task and I wish you all the luck in making the transition.
I only have one large spreadsheet on 1 machine with everyone else touching
it; should be a bit easier for me to convert to Access than your setup.
Good luck and stick to it!

Tim

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Tim Ferguson - 25 Apr 2005 20:37 GMT

> Any thoughts on how I should put this thing together?

Starting point: you need to identify all the entities you will be using:

PhysicalServers(*PCNumber, OSType, OSVer, etc)

VirtualServers(*Ident, SubDomainName, Domain, PCNumber+, etc)

IsHostedOn(*VirtualServer+, *DomainID+, MaxStorage, etc)

Applications(*AppCode, FullName, NumOfLicences, Distributor, etc)

AppOnPhysical(*AppCode+)
AppOnVirtual(*AppCode+)
\\ nb these two are one-to-one relationships. It is possible to
\\ create a RI rule that an Application cannot be an AppOnPhysical
\\ at the same time as being an AppOnVirtual

VirtualAppHost(*AppCode, VSIdent, etc)
\\ nb AppCode is a FK referencing AppOnVirtual, NOT Applications

PhysicalAppHost(*AppCode, PCNumber, etc)
\\ db AppCode is a FK referencing AppOnPhysical, NOT Applications

I strongly suspect you are also going to need to know about domains and
subdomains etc? Isn't there an application already on the market for this
type of network administration -- and is your time really worth less than
getting something that already works?

All the best

Tim F

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