Re: What database shall I use???

x_at_y.z ((Pete Cresswell)) wrote in
<kkpp8ukkldvm3tcn8m41f7vce9ap93aosh_at_4ax.com>:

>My overall experience is that JET back ends work well most of the
>time, but when there's trouble it's difficult or impossible to pin
>down the cause and, in organizations beyond a certain size, the
>developer is powerless to troubleshoot and/or remedy the LAN
>environment himself.

Well, personally, I don't feel non-trivial Access-only apps are appropriate in any organization large enough to have database servers already in place. My entire client base is small businesses, which is the market for which Access is appropriate.

If I were hired to do work for a larger organization, one of the conditions of my accepting the work would be a proper working relationship with the IT department, and the details would have to be ironed out in advance. That means they have to learn about the care and feeding of Access databases, or farm that out to me.

As I've never had that kind of client, I don't know how difficult such a negotiation would be. However, proper management of the network environment is required for an Access-only solution to ever be viable.

>So, even though a JET backend is running a-ok today, there's
>always a sword of Damocles hanging over it. I think we're only
>talking ten-or-so percent - but that ten percent can be bad enough
>to convince some people that client-server is the good, right, and
>holy path.

I don't see it. I'd say 1% at most.

The key is:

1. properly stable operating environment
2. regular maintenance/care
3. multiple levels of backup, tested regularly.

Of course, that's no different than any other database, now is it?

-- 
David W. Fenton                        http://www.bway.net/~dfenton
dfenton at bway dot net                http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc