Product Information

Using a SQL Server on the cloud offers you the collaboration and availability benefits of the web, as well as the speed and responsiveness of a Windows application.

For smaller agencies:

Our hosted solution is perfect for smaller agencies that don't want the hassle of configuring and maintaining a SQL server in house. We take care of maintaining the database on a state-of-the-art server in a secure facility, so you can stay focused on what you do best.

NOTE: The Standard Edition includes the hosted database.

For large agencies with satellite offices:

When you purchase the Enterprise Edition, you have the option of 1) hosting the database on your own SQL Server in house, hosting the database on your own remote server, or having us host the database for you.

For complete pricing information on our hosted system please click here.

Here are some of the benefits of using a hosted database vs an in-house server:

• No upfront investment on hardware

• No waiting for delivery and configuration

• No hiring of IT staff to maintain the server

• Automated backups

• Technical support included

• Accessible from anywhere

• Protected against natural disasters

• Easily scalable as your business grows

And if your needs ever change and you want to get your own server, we can easily move the data from the hosting facility to your in-house server without skipping a beat.

The disadvantage of hosting the server on the cloud is that the data transmission speed is slower than in a local network. For that reason, we do not recommend hosting your server on the cloud if you are going to be importing or exporting large amounts of data frequently, or if you are going to be generating graphic heavy documents such as those containing lots of high definition images and backgrounds.

How it works:

CollectPlus can run on a SQL Server hosted in a Windows VM on the cloud. We recommend Google Cloud VMs but we have customers on Azure VMs as well.

The requirements for the SQL Server machine are identical as the requirements for an on-premises server.

The cloud server firewall needs to allow the HTTP/HTTPS protocols and SQL Server port 1433 (or you can use a different port number which takes an additional hour of configuration). The firewall should limit connections to just the IP addresses of the remote office, or the server can be placed on a VPN.

The CollectPlus Windows app connects to the cloud server in the same way as the on-premises server, using a connection string that either has the UID/PWD (the UID/PWD combination is encrypted in the config file and decrypted by the application) or a Trusted Connection in the case of a VPN.

The CollectPlus Windows app can also run on a cloud server typically configured as a Remote Desktop Server to allow multiple users to connect to it. In that case both the SQL Server and the Remote Desktop Server should be placed on the same cloud network and zone.

For installations that include the CollectPlus Web Portal, the website can also run on a cloud VM with Microsoft IIS installed. Same recommendation as with the Remote Desktop Server which is to place the IIS server on the same cloud network and zone for best performance.

If you decide to go ahead with the cloud option we can provide best practices for Google Cloud configuration of the SQL Server based on your database size and number of users.