vb.net application accessing sqlserver hosted on data center

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VB

SQL-Server

WCF

application

Hi All,

I would like to create a vb.net application (accounting & commercial system)with the below requirements:
1 The sql server hosted on data center
2 400 companies 1-5 user each (total ~ 1000 users)

The clients will download a windows vb.net application and they will have internet access to the database located in a data center.

I need your help regarding the dal (data access layer) that i have to implement for the connection of the clients. Can i connect to the db directly (point the db url in the connection string), should i use wcf witch i am not familiar with it or is there any other practice i should follow for best performance.

Any help would be valuable.