Re: Customers database

Hi,

As already mentioned, these are standalone database systems, and so will need to be repaired quite frequently.

What you really need for more than about 5/6 users is a true client/server system.

I quote from a reply I made to alt.comp.databases, relating to the differences between a true client/server and desktop systems such as Access.

Two things spring straight to mind.

i) Performance
ii) Integrety

The reason for point one, is that in order of increasing speed we have network, disks, and CPU. Access will primarily be sending (possibly) complete tables over the network so that the local machine can perform joins, merges, sorts, etc, to obtain the final result set (assumming selection of course), whilst a "true" server will perform local disk activity to obtain the final result set, and send just that across the network. The difference in speed here will be on avervage be about 8-12 times faster with a true server (based on the project I was on where the customer had the choice), although for a large database, slow network, and badly constructed SQL, probably could be thousands of times faster. (I am not sure if Access generates a practicle query execution plan, but the large servers will all try and predict the best method of executing queries).

Secondly, and much worse, is that as each PC will open the Access file, across the network, any amount of data corruption can occur. In fact the project I am on at present uses a simple access database to record development workflow. Apart from being slow, this system has a tendancy to get corrupted, which means everyone has to logout from the database and wait hours (or until the next day), to get the database fixed. Of course if you are the only person using the database, then is will be of less importance.

This still leaves loads of other useful items out of the discussion, such as database rules and procedures, transaction log handling, OLAP tools, spliting across disks for perfoamance, backup procedures, etc, etc, etc ....

Andrew Wilson
BlueOffice Solutions ApS
www.blueoffice.com Received on Mon Oct 02 2000 - 21:11:08 CEST