Topic: Peachtree and Quickbooks

[Devlyn Davis]

Hey Folks,

We are close to implementing SME for a client that uses both Peachtree and Quickbooks.  I have done a bit of research and there appear to have been problems in the past with Samba and these apps.  I haven't found any solid info on whether there are problems with the later versions of Samba or not (most complaints seem to point to Samba 2.2.1 or earlier.)

My question:  Will SME handle shared (multiuser) databases for these apps?  Have the reported file-corruption issues been resolved?  Do I need to make any changes to the default oplock values in SME?  Which would be the preferred platform, 5.5 or 5.6?

Thanks very much for any info you can provide.


Regards,
Devlyn Davis
devlyn _at_ altnetworksolutions dotcom
www.altnetworksolutions.com

[del]

I've used Quickbooks with SME for over 12 months with no problems.
I assume you are using the 5 user network version. I don't know about Peachtree though. I created an i-bay for the .qbw file. Quickbooks does need the i-bay to be a mapped network drive for stability.
Hope this helps.
Del

[Paul]

I have been using Peachtree 5.0 for Windows for a couple of months with SME 5.6.  I have 3 users on it.  I have not had any problems.

As del states above, you have to map the Ibay on each client as a network drive for it to work properly.

Good Luck

Paul

[Jim Huneycutt]

Devlyn,
I have a CPA firm client with 10 users on a 5.5 (Update 2) server running all versions of Quickbooks, Peachtree, Lacerte Tax, AccPac, and DacEasy without any problems. I use one iBay to map their group drive. I am using the "dosfilemode = yes" parameter in the Samba config and have turned off opportunistic locking on Win2k and XP workstations. I replaced a Win2k server with this 5.5 server.

The server has run steadily for six months without a problem except when I foolishly made a PPTP connection through a 5.6 server at my office to the production 5.5 server and crashed the production server (twice). Eliminating the 5.6 server connection restored stability. When 5.6 is proven stable, especially regading PPTP, I will begin upgrading this and other clients and installing some of the servers I have put on hold.

Good luck,
jim

[Devlyn Davis]

Thanks guys!

I feel a lot more comfortable about proceeding with this deployment now.  Again, much appreciated.

Regards,
Devlyn Davis
devlyn _at_ altnetworksolutions dotcom
www.altnetworksolutions.com

[Graeme Fleming]

I would strongly suggest upgrading SME to Samba 2.2.7a - with this upgrade and the various oplock tweaks my client with MYOB 10 went from opening a 60MB datafile in 2.5 mins to opening it in 1-2 secs

This has been installed on 5.6u.

[Jim Huneycutt]

Graeme, that sounds like a good suggestion. A couple of questions though if you don't mind.

1.) Checking Darrell's Samba contrib at http://mirror.contribs.org/smeserver/contribs/dmay/mitel/contrib/samba/ I see a Samba version 2.2.7-3 rpm. Would this version be suitable? (I see that 2.2.8 is the latest release at Samba.org.)

2.) What are the oplock tweaks you mentioned? I know that turning oplocks off can affect network performance - but this has been recommended in the past to avoid file corruption in multi-user environments. It sounds like you are using oplocks with good success.

3.) Is the 60MB file a Quickbooks file? If so, which version? I have a few files that size at my client's site and would like to do a couple of tests, pre and post-Samba upgrade.

Thanks for the suggestion.
jim

[Jeff Fentum]

I'd like to pose another question while this topic is semi-fresh...

I am currently using a box running v5.6u (server only mode-behind the firewall!) at my company to centralize all of the Quickbook Pro files. The 'local' network users have had no problems accessing and using these files, but when we started connecting a user at a remote office via a secure IPSEC VPN-freeswan connection (via 2 separate boxes running v5.6u in server/gateway mode--1 at each location, of course), that's when the problems started.

First of all, when the remote office user ends his session in Quickbooks Pro (the latest version), the .qbw file becomes inaccessible to all of the local users. So far, the only quick solution that has worked to un-lock the files is to reboot the server hosting the files. Not the best option. Is the drive mapped at the remote location? Yes. Is the user logging in to the session as "multi-user"? Yes. What gives!?

Also, the connection at the remote office is extremely sloooow. I've tried to explain to management that this is because an internet vpn connection is not going to have near the throughput of data that a 10/100 connection will. I've demonstrated this with ping stats, 84ms from the remote connection, .06ms from the local. How can I improve this without getting a hyper-expensive connection setup? The local office has a static 768k T1 and the remote location has an ASDSL connection w/static IP(512k-I think).

In any case, I've been handed the thankless job of "fixing" these problems. Any help/guidance/clues?