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Home -> Community -> Usenet -> c.d.o.misc -> Re: What database shall I use???
RE/
> the corruption factor - which
>when it hits does not tell you at the moment it occurs - is very dependent
>upon the stability of ALL the pieces of the network. For example, I have
>seen it have terrible problems in places where the infrastructure is not as
>stable as....
I do Access front ends because I'm basically the guy that somebody calls when they need something up and running yesterday and IS can't deliver for six months...and Access is *the* tool for that situation.
I slways try to convince the client that the back end should be client-server if it is mission-critical, but to date, a client has never followed that advice.
One client said they's convert as soon as they had time and another says the app will be re-written in net-centric/client-server sometime in the near future....but my take is that once somebody has something that works, they stick with it and put their money into new projects that will get them tangible benefits - as opposed to a usually-intangible payoff in terms of reliability.
The sole exception was a system that worked flawlessly for a couple of years and then started getting a corrupted back end on a daily basis. After what seemed like months the LAN people finally consented to move the back end to another server and the problem went away. The experience was sufficiently sobering for the client that they got IS to come in and re-do the entire app as client-server with a browser-based front end. It didn't really need the browser-based front end, but that's the environment that IS has announced as their new standard, so it was their way or the highway.
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.
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.
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