One Windows Service to access multiple windows application - windows

I have a SQL Server database which serves multiple ASP.NET windows applications. They each have their own SiteID to distinguish the data.
I recently realised that it isn't good practice to have multiple applications accessing one database directly and decided I would implement a service to handle all database connections.
All the windows applications and database sit on the same windows 2008 server.
I want to know what kind of service is best for this functionality. windows service?

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I want to learn how to create a windows application which will be connected to a server

I want to learn how to create a windows application which will be connected to a server and will fetch the data from server and can perform various functions. For example a library app on which we can view issued books, place hold on book etc.
I am a student and have basic knowledge about databases, web application and web architectures.
You can make a window application in .net with using Visual Studio, both .net have libraries to connect with MYSQL database.
here is how you can connect with your mysql database
Connecting to a mySQL database using asp.net

non-IIS hosted WCF Services consumed over the internet connecting to back end Database over the internet

I am kind of new to system architecture. That is, all of my web apps have been relatively flat...two machines at the most running web client and database.
I have been handed the following architecture:
1 VMware machine will run the web application, an MVC 3 app.
1 VMWare machine will host the SQL Server database
1 VMWare machine will host the services.
The machine I'm confused about is the last one. From what I understand, the services project contains references to three other projects: the model, where the entity framework edmx resides, the entities project, which contains T4 templates that use the entity edmx file as input, and the business project which is where the actual business rules are implemented and the meat of the CRUD actions take place.
From what I understand, the intent is to not run an IIS WCF web services interface, but to make calls to WCF services (like those hosted in the MMC services snap in) on the machine over the internet. There is a deployment project in the solution for the services project but I don't know if it's configured properly. I think the idea is to just run the installer on the services machine and it will work.
My specific question is if there are any important things that I need to keep in mind when implementing, configuring, and deploying these services?
I'm kind of new to all of this. I was under the impression that you had to make calls to WCF services via IIS hosted endpoints and that you couldn't (or it at least was inadvisable) to make what amounts to RPC-like calls to machines over the internet.
Since you are new to WCF services, I suggest reading this MSDN article on Hosting and Consuming WCF services.
From what you describe, it looks like you are using Windows Service as a host for your WCF service.
The most common choice for a host is IIS because of its extensive features including self-starting services, ease of deployment, load balancing and so on.
Windows Service is a valid host, provided you can justify the question 'Why not IIS?'. Maybe, you need full control over the activation and lifetime of your WCF service. Not sure.
p.s. Ensure the account that your Windows Service runs under, has the minimum privileges.

Microsoft SQL Server on a VPS for hosting multiple client databases - Is this the right way to go?

Good morning,
I have found that many of my customers have MS Access already installed on their PCs. Although Access is very limited as a data store, I have found that it is great for deploying low-cost front-ends for entry level customers.
I want to start renting a VPS, so I can host customer databases using Microsoft SQL Server 2008, which they can access using a locally stored Access front-end. I do have a few questions though:
In order to access the remotely hosted databases, and use the security features, would the VPS need to be set up as a domain controller, using AD DS? If I am hosting multiple customer databases, this is not an option.
What I envisage is being able to set up a simple MS Access front end, to access a MS SQL Server database on my VPS. For security, I would want the database to use the Windows account on the client machine to authenticate, and also to provide basic data change tracking.
Is this possible? Or, will I need to set up a server for each client and have it configured as a domain controller, etc?
You can have many databases on the same server, so for each client you d not need to setup a separate domain controller. Only the connection strings will be different.
You can use SSL for establishing connection with the remote server to make the process more secure. You can also make a few web services to play with the data (CRUD operations), this would also make things more manageable.
take care :)

Integrated Windows Authentication - Realistic for internet applications?

I'm reading about how wonderful Integrated Windows Authentication is, but there is only a few comments about how it's only good for intranets. So just to be clear, is it safe to say that this technology is not realistic for internet applications? I'm developing a desktop application that connects with SQL Server and I just can't imagine telling all my customers to configure a windows account on their home PCs according to my specifications. Am I missing somethimg because that seems quite unrealistic.
(of course, where the DBA has a close relationship with the users on an intranet, it's a different story.)
I would have to say yes, Windows Authentication is best left to intranet applications - it's ideal for any authenticated communication that needs to take place on the same network.
It sounds like you want to allow the desktop app (running on your client's machine) to directly talk with your SQL Server? I would strongly recommend against allowing direct public access, especially if you cannot lock the port down to a list of known IP addresses. Instead, consider putting WCF Web Services between the database and the desktop client.

wcf windows service interaction

I have a windows service in which i host a wcf service.
What is the best approach to control the windows service via the wcf service? I already created the interfaces for the wcf service, but I have no idea how to interact with the windows service's classes and functions.
just to check that I'm understanding your problem correctly - you want to run a wcf service, so you create a windows service to host it, and you want your desktop client to be able to control the windows service (that's hosting the wcf service) by talking to the wcf service?
If that's the case, what is it that you're trying to do with the windows service? In some of the work I've done, I've set up the server such that there's the windows service hosting all the wcf services I want to run, and in order to interact with that windows service remotely (e.g. starting/stopping/restarting) I have another service running on the server (usually baked into the Amazon instance image so it's running on every new server that gets brought up) which my remote client can talk to instead. That way I have a means to trigger a service restart on all my servers without having to manually connect/remote desktop to each server. Of course, the second wcf service is secured by some means so it can't be exploited easily.
Is that the sort of thing you're looking to do?

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