Current setup:

• QuickBooks Pro 2006 client installed on Desktops A, B, C, and D
• QuickBooks data files hosted on Server 1 (a file server)

Objective: Develop a set of Intranet pages that retrieve selected data from QuickBooks and display that data to our sales force via a browser.  All access to the QB data through the Intranet will be read-only.

Planned Implementation:  Set up an internal web server (Server 2) running IIS under Windows 2003 Server.  Develop ASP pages that access the QB data (on Server 1) via QODBC and ADO.  We're expert at developing ASP pages using SQL/ADO/ODBC, but have almost no knowledge of QuickBooks.

Questions:

• Can we build the prototype ASP pages using the Evaluation version of QODBC?  Your web site says we need to purchase the Server Edition of QODBC, which is fine.  But there seems to be only one version of the downloadable Evaluation copy.  Does that one copy handle both Desktop Edition and Server Edition?
• We understand that QODBC needs the QuickBooks API to access the QBW files on Server 1, and we believe we need to install QuickBooks on Server 2 (NOT on Server 1).  Is that correct? 
• If so, does QB run as a standard Windows service on Server 2?
• Is there an option in the QB install to install it as a Windows service instead of as a client?  Or does installing the QB client automatically install the QB service as well?
• Will this all work with QB Pro 2006, or do we need to purchase some server edition of QB?
• Would any of the answers above be different if we located the QB data files on the web server (Server 2) where QODBC and QB will be running, instead of hosting the QB data files on a separate file server (Server 1)? 
• Would QODBC perform better if the QB data files were on the same server (Server 2)?

Thanks in advance for your help

Michael Broos, CTO, CreditRiskMonitor (http://crmz.com)

Ok, QuickBooks and QODBC will need to be installed on Server 2. It would be best if the company file is moved to Server 2, but it can stay on Server 1 if disired. You will need to purchase the QODBC Server edition and setup the QODBC DCOMs. The evaluation version runs as a Server Evaluation. As far as setup is concerned, QODBC needs to be setup the same way for Intranets as the Internet.

Please see the following topics:
How does the 30 day evaluation work? How can I evaluate the Desktop Edition? 
How can I see QuickBooks data in a Internet Explorer Browser using Windows XP? 
QODBC and Windows Service