QuickBooks - Network Drive - Keep Connected
I've been trying to host a QuickBooks data file on a Mapped Network Drive. The drive is a Vantec NexStar connected via its Ethernet port to the Local Area Network. The problem has been that the "Connection to the QuickBooks company file has been lost" after about 10 minutes of inactivity. This meant closing the program and re-opening it to get back to work. I noticed that whenever this happened, the mapped drive was showing a type of "Disconnected Network Drive" while another NAS (Network Attached Storage) drive, a SimpleShare by SimpleTech always stays connected. There must be a firmware feature in the SimpleShare that keeps it alive but is missing in the NexStar. I'm pretty sure I could have solved the problem by moving the QB file to the SimpleShare drive but that drive is being used as a backup destination and I didn't want to re-arrange the file system and backup programs. I decided to "liven" up the NexStar by using the backup software, SyncBackSE, to synchronize a small inactive folder every ten minutes. This keeps the NexStar "Connected" and keeps QuickBooks connected as well. The synchronization routine takes only about 3 seconds and is scheduled to run from 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM. This may seem like an odd work-around but I'm sure more use will be made of NAS in the future and this is a good tool to have in the box in case other issues arise where a NAS drive needs help staying connected.
Posted by John at 7:32:15 AM in Software (18) |
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Comments
1. Art said...
What version of quickbooks are you running on the nas drive? I have been trying to run quickbooks 2007 and was told by quickbooks that it won't run on a nas drive. Art
3. John Dykstra said...
I've upgraded to QB 2008 and have found that this version and its new database engine will not work with the company file on an external drive. Based on this and Art's comment above, I'm advising that users of 2007 and up don't try this and just put the file on a PC and share the QB Data folder.
4. Gloriana said...
What a joy to find smoonee else who thinks this way.
2. John Dykstra said...
I've run QB 2003 and 2005 on a NAS drive. I run the program locally and just put the company data file on the external drive mapped as 'Q' drive. I haven't done any work with 2007 yet. My clients (and I) are not finding any compelling reason to upgrade yet. I have 2 clients using QB Enterprise 7 but they both use servers.
3/4/2008