What is the Pipeline Client-Server Database?
In short, it's a 32-Bit Database Server compliant with the ANSI SQL PSM 2003 standard. The database server installs on your network server and communicates with the workstations while Pipeline products are in use. The Client-Server database is optional for our LOS products.

Features

• Eliminates multi-user performance problems 

• Provides database security 
• Preserves database integrity 
• No new hardware or data conversion required 
• Runs on Window NT, 2000, 2003 and XP or Novell Netware Servers
• Installs in minutes and requires no Database Administrator
• External applications can access the Pipeline database using SQL via free ODBC, OLEDB or .NET drivers (others available)

Intelligent Processing
Client-server enabled Pipeline products intelligently divide processing between the client and the server.  The server software operating on the network server performs database concurrency control, data movement, searching and manipulation.  There is now a central point of control for database access.  With client-server enabled Pipeline products, database operations are performed entirely on the file server.  Only the results of database operations are returned to the workstation.

External Application Interface
Client-server enabled Pipeline products also have the benefit of ODBC, OLEDB and .NET driver support. Now you can directly access or integrate the Pipeline database with other products such as Crystal Reports, Microsoft Visual Studio, Access and any other product supporting the available drivers.

Why should I consider a client-server solution?
Database applications such as Pipeline Solutions are popular because they are relatively inexpensive to implement and deploy.  As more users are added to the network or remote access capabilities are added, performance, data integrity and security can suffer.

Our software products are comprised of industry standard DBF tables and their associated index files.  The DBF format is well known and is supported by many development platforms. When only a few users on a network use a Pipeline product, and the database is small, the performance is good, and Pipeline is easy to maintain and stable.

As the number of users at a site increases, the size of the database doubles, then triples, etc.  Transaction loads skyrocket.  If a remote site is added that requires access to your company’s network via a wide area network (WAN), suddenly, performance slows and there is an increased probability of index corruption.  When workstations or the network goes down, the database may become corrupt.  With the addition of new users, database security becomes a larger issue.  The database is no longer stable or secure.  Users have lost their ability to do their work in a timely manner, particularly at month end when application performance is critical.

Performance problems -- A double-edged sword
Without the client-server option, the Pipeline Solutions user interface, business calculations, database concurrency control, data movement, data searching, and data manipulation are all performed on the workstation.  The file server only acts as a remote hard drive to share loan files. There is no central point of control to the data.  When a workstation needs to find or update a loan file, it must temporarily lock the data it needs to access. With only a few users on the network using Pipeline, there is little contention for common data.  However, as the number of users increase so does the database access contention.  Workstations trying to lock data will fail more frequently on initial and subsequent attempts.  Not only does Pipeline’s performance suffer but also other users’ performance suffers due to the additional network traffic generated by multiple database concurrency lock requests.

Index Corruption
Every time Pipeline updates a loan file, one or more index files usually also require changes to complete the transaction.  Once an update operation begins, the database will remain stable only when each and every table and index update is completed. Each index update requires a concurrency lock, several read/write operations and finally, an index “flush to disk” operation.  This is for each and every index affected!  If the workstation or network goes down at any time during the update, indexes will be corrupt and the database will be left in an unstable state.

What will adding the client-server option cost me?
It's less than you might expect. Pricing is based on the potential number of concurrent users accessing loan files over a network. For example, if you potentially have seven total users operating a Pipeline product, you need a ten-user client-server license. Contact us to discuss your options and to obtain a price quote.

The Bottom Line
If you have more than five users sharing a Pipeline Solutions product over a network, you should seriously consider purchasing our client-server solution. Because your business depends on Pipeline Solutions every day, you need to know that your loan files are safe and secure from network failures and other hardware related problems. Our client-server solution is an insurance policy protecting your loan files from unexpected problems.