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koehnagservices
Level 1

I want to store my quickbooks data on a external hard drive. Is there any reason this will not work? I will use a cloud service to backup the hard drive.

 
6 Comments 6
qbteachmt
Level 15

I want to store my quickbooks data on a external hard drive. Is there any reason this will not work? I will use a cloud service to backup the hard drive.

"a cloud storage drive requires very good internet connections and fast response times."

No, that isn't the issue. The QB desktop program does not load the data file into memory. Word and Excel put the working file into memory, so you are not Working on the live file.

QB requires a Live and Managed connection to the database at all times. Think of this as a phone call that you cannot Ever set it down or put it on hold. There are associated utility files that are Live Updated while you work. That's why there is a Save on every Transaction; not a Save on the entire file, at the end.

"Some programs don't like anything but local disk access (and it appears that Quickbooks may be one of those)."

It's not an issue of Speed; the data file must be Managed. The only cloud service provider doing this so far is QBox.



qbteachmt
Level 15

I want to store my quickbooks data on a external hard drive. Is there any reason this will not work? I will use a cloud service to backup the hard drive.

"Is there any reason this will not work?"

You will have a couple of issues. Mostly, that device is really slow, compared to the local harddrive, for the relational database and the associated utility files that are Live Updated while you work. This is not like Word or Excel, in that the file is not Loaded into local memory while you work.

"I will use a cloud service to backup the hard drive. "

That also isn't good enough. What you would do is use the QB function to make a backup file (.qbb) and you can make that to the external device. Then, the Cloud will mirror the .qbb. The .qbb is your safekeeping and disaster recovery file.

janos
Level 1

I want to store my quickbooks data on a external hard drive. Is there any reason this will not work? I will use a cloud service to backup the hard drive.

I have tried this with the Wasabi drive (wasabi.com). It is as fast as my local server! Advantage: store .qbw on cloud drive.
I am looking for more feedback on using this type of configuration.
qbteachmt
Level 15

I want to store my quickbooks data on a external hard drive. Is there any reason this will not work? I will use a cloud service to backup the hard drive.

If you intend to use a Cloud service or storage location as the working location, it has to be able to manage the relational database and the associated utility files that are live updated all the time, while you work. Nothing is loaded into local memory.
jay3
Level 2

I want to store my quickbooks data on a external hard drive. Is there any reason this will not work? I will use a cloud service to backup the hard drive.

dropbox, google, msn, none are good for hosting .qbw file.
a cloud storage drive requires very good internet connections and fast response times.
wasabi mounts as a local or network drive and uses aws s3 bucket for the cloud drive and has good response time.
i would like to know if anyone else has tried this as the data drive for quickbooks and what they have experienced?
jay3
Level 2

I want to store my quickbooks data on a external hard drive. Is there any reason this will not work? I will use a cloud service to backup the hard drive.

Wasabi Technical Support
Although Wasabi uses some different technology than dropbox etc., it is still a flavor of cloud storage and really can't serve up files as quickly as a local disk.    Some programs don't like anything but local disk access (and it appears that Quickbooks may be one of those).    

You should be fine using cloud storage to store backup copies of qbw files but using it for Quickbooks working copies may not be a fit.

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