Microsoft Access database hosting, on a server we look after.

Microsoft describes several ways to share an Access desktop database. The three most businesses use each assume the people using it are close to the data (Microsoft also covers sharing data on a SharePoint site):

A hosted Remote Desktop server puts every user back on the same local network as the data. The split design Microsoft recommends then works the way it was meant to, whether people sign in from the office, from home or from a client's site.

1. 01

   The back-end lives on the server

   Your data tables sit in a folder on a managed Windows server in London, with file permissions set so only your users can reach them.

2. 02

   Each user gets their own front-end

   Following Microsoft's split-database advice, every person has their own copy of the front-end in their profile on the server, linked to the shared back-end.

3. 03

   Your team connects with Remote Desktop

   Each person signs in with their own account. It works from Windows PCs with the built-in Remote Desktop Connection, and from Macs, iPads and Android tablets with Microsoft's Windows App.

4. 04

   Access is locked down

   Every Remote Desktop sign-in needs a password and a code from an authenticator app, for your team and for our engineers. No one can start a Remote Desktop session with a password alone, and we can also limit access to your office IP addresses. See is RDP safe over the internet for why.

5. 05

   We patch, monitor and back up

   Critical and high-risk Windows updates go on within 14 days of release, in an agreed maintenance window outside your working hours. The server is monitored, and backups run on a schedule, with help from us when you need a restore.

If you use a one-off purchase of Access rather than Microsoft 365, check its support date first. Microsoft's lifecycle pages show Access 2016 and Access 2019 support ended on 14 October 2025 and Access 2021 support ended on 13 October 2026; Access 2024 is supported until 9 October 2029.

• Size. Microsoft's specification caps an Access database file at 2GB, minus the space needed for system objects. Linking to tables in several back-end files is Microsoft's workaround.
• Users. The specification lists 255 concurrent users as the maximum. How many work comfortably in practice depends on the database design.
• The next step. Microsoft documents moving the tables to SQL Server while keeping Access as the front end. On a hosted server that can happen on the same machine, without changing how your team opens the database.

We will tell you if your database looks close to these limits when we test it on a copy. Rebuilding or redesigning the database is work for your Access developer; we host and run the server it lives on.

Our Managed Windows Server starts at £119/month (list £149/month). No VAT is added. Remote Desktop user licences, and SQL Server if you need it, are quoted in writing after a short conversation, before you pay anything. Moving the database from your current server is included.

1. 01We agree a date away from your busiest days.
2. 02We build and secure the server and copy your back-end and front-end files across.
3. 03The front-end is pointed at the back-end's new location, which Microsoft's Linked Table Manager does, and one or two of your users try it on the copy for a few days.
4. 04On the agreed evening, everyone closes the database, we copy the live back-end across and check it with you.
5. 05Your old copy stays untouched until you are happy, so you can always go back.