Where the external database actually lives matters for connectivity, latency, security and cost. This article covers the common deployment patterns and what to watch for.
Same-Region Cloud DB
Fastest. Both ActiveManage and the database run in the same region (e.g. AWS eu-west-1). Latency under 5ms, no internet egress charges, easy network ACL.
Other-Region Cloud DB
Connection works but every query pays 50-200ms. Suitable for low-frequency, batch-style integrations; painful for per-request lookups in interactive UI.
On-Premises via VPN
Common for legacy databases. ActiveManage connects through a site-to-site VPN to the customer's data centre. Plan for occasional VPN drops and configure retries.
On-Premises via SSH Tunnel
Lighter than VPN. Forward the DB port over SSH; the platform supports persistent SSH tunnels with auto-reconnect. Limited bandwidth — fine for small queries.
Third-Party SaaS DB
Some SaaS providers (notably modern data warehouses) expose direct SQL. Use their connection strings; respect their concurrency limits.
Network Security
- Allowlist the platform's egress IPs at the database firewall.
- Always use TLS unless inside a controlled VPN.
- Rotate credentials annually.
- Use per-purpose users (read-only user for reporting, separate writer for ingestion).
Worked Examples
- Same-region: RDS Aurora in AWS eu-west-1 connected from ActiveManage in eu-west-1. 2ms latency, no special infra.
- Legacy on-prem: On-prem SQL Server reached via IPsec VPN. Customer's DBA opened a read-only account.
- SSH tunnel: A consultancy reaches a small client's PostgreSQL through SSH; tunnel re-establishes automatically on disconnect.
- BigQuery: Direct connection with service-account JSON key, query limited to specific datasets.