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My organization is implementing a new Airtable base structure complete with integrations with Softr, Fillout, and Make. It’s a complex build that has taken over a year to build. We recently upgraded to Business to take advantage of higher record limits and 2-way table sync. Now I have learned of the limitations of the 2-way sync and I am doubting everything.

We were advised to design our operation in two bases; let’s call them People and Things. About half of the tables in each base have been synced into the other base. Here’s the problem:

  1. A table in People (Names) is synced to Things
  2. The synced Names table needs a rollup from a table in Things (Furniture). A linked field and the rollup are added to the synced table.
  3. We need that rollup back in the People base, but it does not sync back because of how 2-way syncing works (records sync, not fields native to in the target base).
  4. So, we sync Furniture to the People base - it includes the linked field to the Names table on Things. We try to create the rollup directly Names. Can’t do it - there’s no link in this base between the source Names table and the synced Furniture table. 
  5. We leverage the “sync linked tables” feature for the Names table within the Furniture sync, but that makes things crazier because it creates a linked table in People for the Names table - so now that base has a source table for Names AND a linked table for Names. 

This cannot be the recommended solution here. What am I doing wrong?

And the larger question: do I even need two bases at all? I have 34 tables with a total of 50,000 records between them. I estimate we’ll add around 2500 records/month for the foreseeable future. We’re willing to upgrade to Enterprise down the road if needed.

Thanks for getting this far and for any guidance!

Hey ​@tech-ss!

As a rule of thumb, unless there are good reasons to have different bases I always prefer to have one unique base as it is obviously easier to handle (point made with your description above).

Two good reasons for having different bases: 

  • Record count -does not seem to be a big issue for you
  • Limit as to who has access to what data from the back end (do note that this can be further limited through interfaces) - does not seem to be a big issue for you
     

Again, if possible I would suggest you stick with one unique base assuming that you will not outgrow Airtable’s record count limits anytime soon.

I’d be happy to hop on a brief call with you to help you further understand your current situation and different alternatives. Feel free to schedule a call using this link!

Mike, Consultant @ Automatic Nation

Hmm, what if you put the Furniture table in People instead, and sync it over to Things?  That way any links you make between the two tables would show up in both bases?  Kind of unintuitive but, given that the data exists in both tables, where the “source” is doesn’t really matter that much?
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re: And the larger question: do I even need two bases at all? I have 34 tables with a total of 50,000 records between them. I estimate we’ll add around 2500 records/month for the foreseeable future. We’re willing to upgrade to Enterprise down the road if needed.

 

If you’re willing to do Enterprise then I feel like your biggest consideration is the number of automations you need?  Each base can only have 50 automations, so if you can foresee yourself needing more automations as you scale then having separate bases would be good

​@tech-ss 

As you mentioned in your original post above, it is not typically a good idea to split your system into 2 separate bases, unless there is a security requirement to keep the data separated. Otherwise, you will run into all sorts of Airtable limitations.

For reconnecting the links across 2 different bases, you are correct that this is very challenging. The best way of handling this would probably be to create an automation that reconnects the links using Record IDs. This automation could kick in whenever the sync happens (i.e. whenever a record is created or updated in the destination table).

All of this can be quite challenging & time-consuming to setup, so the best long-term solution would likely be to restructure your system by keeping it all in one base.

If you need help with either of these solutions (keeping the bases separate or merging them together), and you’d like to hire the best Airtable consultant to help you with this, please feel free to contact me through my website: Airtable consultant — ScottWorld 

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