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I'm working on a Swing GUI application that among other things, functions as a database client that reads and writes to a MySQL database. Currently I implemented the interaction with the database using JDBC (as instructed here: http://www.kitebird.com/articles/jdbc.html), which directly connects to the database by specifying the explicit database host name (IP address).

This works fine as long as I run the GUI client application on a PC which is a part of the organization's local network, and thus I can reach the MySQL database by specifying the IP address of the machine it's deployed on.

But I wonder what is the proper way of implementing the interaction with the database if the GUI client application to be run on a computer that's outside of the organization's network (communicating over the internet)?

The two ways I could think of are:

  1. Configure the database server machine to be available on MySQL's default port (3306) over the internet, and then I would be able to continue connecting to the database from the GUI client application by specifying the database server's IP address.

  2. Create a web service (probably REST API based), that would run on the database server machine, and function as a middleman between the GUI client and the MySQL database.

I suspect the correct way is the second option, using a web service, but I don't have any experience in implementing any.

So my bottom line question is:

What is the correct way to implement communication with a database over the internet, and if it involves using web services, where should I start? What are the common libraries or frameworks that are used for implementing such things?

Thanks a lot to anyone who had the patience to read all this.

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    The best thing would be to run the REST service on the same local network as DB is. Commented Nov 20, 2012 at 10:02
  • here you will find some answers about which one is best. Commented Nov 20, 2012 at 10:05

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Sounds like a big task, and I'm not sure there are any easy answers. You most certainly should not expose connections to your database to the internet, as that would be a powerful vector for potential attackers.

A web service would be a very good solution to this. The Java standard for RESTful webservices is JCR (JSR-170), the reference implementation for which is Apache Jackrabbit (http://jackrabbit.apache.org/). Its pretty easy to set up, and there are various options for securing such a service.

Edit: No thats wrong! I meant JAX-RS and Jersey (http://jersey.java.net/). Sorry!

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Easiest solution would be to set up a VPN allowing your remote clients to connect to the same database. That takes care of the security and infrastructure considerations, and requires no change to your application.

The service-based approach is second favourite - it's a fundamental re-build of the application, and usually brings a lot of tricky performance and scalability issues. I'd recommend reading Martin Fowler's Patterns of Enterprise Integration for a recommendation - it's a far more complex issue that you can expect to answer on SO.

Do not open up your MySQL database to the wider internet - the security risks are simply too big.

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