One of Altium's best features is it's scalable CAD Libraries.
A well designed database library can support multiple users and simplify library maintenance.
Database libraries can be created to support remote and on premise design teams.
Parts can be used to clean up existing libraries before migrating to Altium 365 managed components.
The Parts DBLib download contains everything you need to get an Altium DBLib library up and running in less than 5 minutes.
For creating and maintaining database libraries Altium has several options to chose from, which can be as simple as an Access database or an ODBC compliant data source, i.e. MySQL Server.
Parts can be used with a cloud hosted MySQL database for remote collaboration.
A very popular solution is the DBLib Library solution implemented using Microsoft Access.
Microsoft Access is an excellent choice for creating a shared database library
Inexperienced database designers often overlook the importance of splitting the database. In a split database there is a back-end (data tables) and a front-end (user interface).
Access newbies will often design a peer to peer network. They start out by designing an Access database on their computer, then share the database using a shared folder.
On a peer to peer network the database is hosted in a shared file folder on a PC within a work-group. A peer to peer network will work for 4 or 5 users, provided the hosting computer is always online.
In a Windows peer-to-peer network NO more than 4 or 5 users will be able to connect Altium to an Access database.
For anything more than 4 or 5 users, the best solution is to use a client/server network with a dedicated server. Clients are the front-end applications, for example one session of Altium connected through a DBLib to the database would be one client.
The physical maximum number of concurrent connections for Microsoft Access is 255 for databases that are installed on a network drive.
If a multi-user database is designed properly with a split front-end and back-end, all users have "Full control" security permissions on the network shared directory, and all users are only reading the records, then the physical limit of 255 concurrent connections could be reached. That's about 60 users because each user will consume 3 or 4 connections.
In a practical network there will be designers and engineers who for the most part will be reading records from the database library as they place parts into their designs. And there will be some librarian activity, like creating new parts and updating existing parts.
Therefore the practical number of concurrent users will be limited to the amount of network traffic and the amount of record lock contention. Record lock contention can be minimized in a well designed database.
An experienced Access database designer can create a robust multi-user database solution using Access.
Summary:
The Parts Access database solution will support ~60 users on a company LAN.
