Hi, I am very grateful for all your prompt replies, that’s fantastic since I got an answer to my question. I am going to digest all of it, and then decide what to do next. Once again, thanks a lot!
Best regards, Judith > On 2019-Sep-05, at 19:08, Sam Gendler <sgend...@ideasculptor.com> wrote: > > If I was in a hurry to implement this, and I had a userbase that wasn't very > experienced with managing relational databases, I'd write some code to > automatically and periodically build a docker image with the latest data in > it (however often is sufficient to meet your needs), and then I'd set up a > 1-line scheduled command on the laptops that would pull the latest docker > image to the user's laptop. Then I'd give them a script that runs the docker > container locally, and give them a client that knows how to connect to it. > Assuming it is a read-only db when you aren't connected, I could automate all > of that in just a few hours in most environments, and the changes that would > be required on the individual laptops would be minimal. > > If you need to be able to write to the db when disconnected, and pull those > writes into the central db instance when connected, that's a tougher problem > to solve which is more suited to some of the earlier suggestions. But if you > only need to read when remote and just want something that works, is easy to > put together, and can likely be built by an outside consultant for minimal > expense and even less ongoing support and maintenance, I would just pay > someone to read rthat first paragraph and set it up for me and call it good. > Any of the suggested solutions is going to require a fair amount of > administrative competence to really put together, so going for one that > shouldn't require much maintenance to keep synchronized is your best bet. > > On Thu, Sep 5, 2019 at 3:43 PM Adrian Klaver <adrian.kla...@aklaver.com > <mailto:adrian.kla...@aklaver.com>> wrote: > On 9/5/19 2:00 PM, Judith Lacoste wrote: > > Hi, > > > > I think PostgreSQL is the solution for my needs, but I am not a > > programmer/coder. If I can confirm PostgreSQL does what I need, I will > > have to hire someone to assist, I am willing to give the effort to learn > > myself but it may be difficult, my specialities are biology and > > microscopy. Or perhaps the use of PostgreSQL is restricted to people > > highly trained in computer sciences? > > No, I am biologist and I learned Postgres/database management. It is > about organizing things and that is a commonality with biology. > > > > I have been looking around a lot through the PostgreSQL website, > > searching the archives, and I even contacted PostgreSQL people locally > > but I still don’t have a clear answer to my first question. So I am > > posting it here with the hope to move on with PostgreSQL, or abandon the > > project. > > This would be the list to talk to. > > > > I plan to install the database on a server in the office. Me and my four > > colleagues will occasionally connect to this database when we are > > working in other locations (usually hospitals or universities). In such > > remote locations, we often do not have internet/network, yet we still > > need to access the database. Currently, we use a system where a copy of > > the database lives on each of our laptops. We can access all the > > information in the database despite being offline. This local copy of > > the database is synchronized with the server once network becomes > > available again. > > question is whether or not such set up is possible with PostgreSQL? > > The set up is possible, though how you would implement it would depend > on several factors: > > 1) What OS and versions are you using? > > 2) Are you working directly with the database or through an application? > > 3) What programming languages are you using? > > There is also the option of using Sqlite(https://sqlite.org/index.html > <https://sqlite.org/index.html>) > for your 'local' databases and then syncing them to Postgres. > > > > > > Why am I interested in PostrgreSQL? First, my work has made me aware of > > how precious open source tools are. Our main tools for data analysis > > are open source. Commercial equivalents are black boxes which we try to > > avoid in the name of science reproducibility and transparency. > > Secondly, the commercial software we are currently using is apparently > > based on PostgreSQL, so I am hoping that using PostgreSQL will make > > migration less painful. > > > > Thank you in advance, > > > > Judith > > > -- > Adrian Klaver > adrian.kla...@aklaver.com <mailto:adrian.kla...@aklaver.com> > >
