About hosting QuickBooks company data files in multi-user mode

The term hosting is used to describe the situation where the computer that is storing a company file (the host) allows other computers to access the file.

QuickBooks uses a service to manage company file access:

• QuickBooks 2013 uses QuickBooksDB23
• QuickBooks 2012 uses QuickBooksDB22
• QuickBooks 2011 uses QuickBooksDB21 
• QuickBooks 2010 uses QuickBooksDB20
• QuickBooks 2009 uses QuickBooksDB19
• QuickBooks 2008 uses QuickBooksDB18
• QuickBooks 2007 uses QuickBooksDB17

In Windows Control Panel, you can find this service in User Accounts, under Users for this computer. Look for the service that corresponds to your version of QuickBooks.

The following diagrams illustrate QuickBooks hosting modes.

Dedicated hosting diagram

Peer to peer hosting diagram

Alternate hosting diagram

QuickBooks requires 3 conditions be met before it can allow access to company files:

• Windows File permissions: The user who is logged in must have permissions set to Full control, which includes permission to look at, open, and modify the file.
• Database Server mode: The database server can successfully open the company file.
• QuickBooks User login: Each user must have a QuickBooks user login and password.

Once these 3 requirements are met, you can access the company file.

The hosting mode is set for each version of QuickBooks and for each computer. It is not set for the company file or the QuickBooks installation. When multiple versions of QuickBooks 2006 or later are used concurrently, the hosting mode settings for each version are independent.

There are 3 hosting modes: Not Hosting (also known as Hosting Off), Hosting Local Files only, and Hosting Local & Remote files.

• In Not Hosting mode:
  • QuickBooks Database Manager runs as a normal process, as a Windows user running QuickBooks.
  • Not Hosting mode does not support multi-user mode. Not Hosting mode uses shared memory to communicate with QuickBooks. In this mode, only the QuickBooks user who is running QuickBooks on the local computer can use a database server to access a file.
• In Hosting Local Files only mode:
  • QuickBooks Database Server Manager runs as a Windows service named QuickBooksDBXX (where XX is a number from 17 to 22 determined by the version of QuickBooks, as described under "Hosting defined," above) and as the Windows user QBDataServiceUserXX (with XX being the same 2-digit number from 17 to 22 that the Windows service uses).
  • As long as the computer is on, the service QuickBooksDBXX is always running.
  • Multi-user mode is supported, using TCP/IP to communicate with QuickBooks. QuickBooks users on remote computers can access company files using a database server running in Hosting Local Files only mode.
  • A computer in Hosting Local Files only mode can host only those files that are located on that computer.
• In Hosting Local & Remote files mode:
  • QuickBooks Database Manager runs as a normal process, as the currently logged on Windows user. This process starts when a user logs in to Windows and stops when the user logs out.
  • A computer in Hosting Local & Remote files mode can support multi-user mode, using TCP/IP to communicate with QuickBooks. QuickBooks users on remote computers can access company files on this computer using a database server.
  • A local computer in this mode can host files stored on it, as well as files that are located on remote computers and opened on the local computer.

1. QuickBooks looks for the .nd file. The .nd file is a small text file with the same name as the company file, but with an .nd file extension. This file is located in the same directory as the company file, which has the file extension .qbw. The directory also contains the information needed to contact the server, such as the IP address and port.
2. QuickBooks determines whether the .qbw file is in use.
3. If QuickBooks finds the .nd file and detects that the company file is in use, QuickBooks tries to communicate with the server:
   • If it is successful, QuickBooks opens the company file.
   • If it's not successful, an error message that describes the steps needed to resolve the issue appears. See Multiple computers receive error H101, H202, H303, or H505 when opening the company file.