Upsizing To SQL Server

[Wayne]

Can anyone point me to any info on the pros and cons of upsizing small
to medium size databases to SQL Server?

If the user base is never going to be more than about 10, the app
isn't totally mission critical and the record count will never get
into the hundreds of thousands, is upsizing even worth considering?

Any help is appreciated.

[Max Vit]

If your DB size is never going to reach the 2GB limit then you would
be all right.

It's good practice to schedule a periodic shutdown (i.e. once a week)
of your access DB to perform compacting to keep the size within
reasonable limits.

My experience (I'm not an expert though) says that the main adavantage
of upsizing to SQL Server is that your data now can grow more than
2GB. But you lose functionalities as you still may have to have local
tables in access to do local querying, etc; upsizing means you have to
rewrite some of your code to keep the same functionalities you used to
have.

So, if your DB size will be less than 2GB and your user base is less
than 25 concurrent users I wouldn't upsize.

Perhaps some other folks with experience in this could share their
views.

HTH - Max

[Wayne]

Thanks for the reply Max. For the systems that I have in production,
my concurrent user base probably won't even approach 10 and if the
backend mdb ever grows to 100mb I'll be really surprised. The main
reason for my question was that I've seen some bad press on using an
mdb as the backend. I don't know whether the people are purists or
not, but the advice was that a Jet backend isn't a real database and
SQL server should always be used as the backend or the developer
doesn't really know what they are doing.

This just didn't ring true because there are many very competent and
knowledgeable people who frequent this forum (some of them MVPs) who
use Jet backends extensively from what I can tell. Most of these guys
know infinitely more than I ever will, and for them to be using Jet I
figure in many cases where small database systems are involved, that
Jet is more than ample for the job.

Backend mdbs have worked really well for me over the years. I've had
almost no trouble with them and it is really easy to set a database up
via email and telephone without ever having gone to the site where the
database lives geographically. Many thanks to Tony Toews for his Auto
Frontend Updater that makes setting up individual client frontends a
breeze. I assume that with an SQL server backend it wouldn't be as
simple a zipping a few files and emailing them off.

I also assume that it isn't as simple as just dumping my current
backend tables onto SQL server. From what I've gleaned from trawling
this forum, the frontend application would have to be extensively
rewritten. I rely heavily on queries and I presume that this has a
bearing on things as well.

[Max Vit]

Hi Wayne - Totally agree with your comments. I'm not an expert either
but i have used MDB's as backends and never had any trouble; they are
also very easy to backup.

I think you are right; it seems to me that the aversion against MDB's
is a lot to do with purists spreading the fear. At the end of the day,
I think that for fast LAN deployments where you have < 25 concurrent
users nothing can beat Access; perhaps SQL Server has its strengths
but not in this space.

I also hear a lot of complaints about security and WAN speed of MDB's
and that these factors play an important role in deciding to upsize to
SQL server.

If there is anyone out there with experience in this subject I'd be
glad to learn about different views.

[John Winterbottom]

One plus is the chance for you to acquire a new skill set. Depending on
your situation this may or may not be attractive to you. If it were me,
I would take a small app that you know inside out, buy some good books
on sql server and sql server / access development and go for it.

Wayne wrote:

Can anyone point me to any info on the pros and cons of upsizing small
to medium size databases to SQL Server?

If the user base is never going to be more than about 10, the app
isn't totally mission critical and the record count will never get
into the hundreds of thousands, is upsizing even worth considering?

Any help is appreciated.

[lyle]

On Jul 5, 5:34 pm, Wayne <cqdigi...@volc anomail.comwrot e:

Can anyone point me to any info on the pros and cons of upsizing small
to medium size databases to SQL Server?

If the user base is never going to be more than about 10, the app
isn't totally mission critical and the record count will never get
into the hundreds of thousands, is upsizing even worth considering?

You'll be able to say,
"Well, of course, MY applications all use MS-SQL as a backend."
This may help you score with nerd-pref chicks.
Otherwise, it's a total waste of time.

[David W. Fenton]

Wayne <cq*******@volc anomail.comwrot e in
news:11******** **************@ i13g2000prf.goo glegroups.com:

I don't know whether the people are purists or
not, but the advice was that a Jet backend isn't a real database

These people are know-nothing idiots -- pay no attention to them.

--
David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/
usenet at dfenton dot com http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/

[Larry Linson]

"lyle" <ly************ @gmail.comwrote

You'll be able to say, "Well, of course, MY
applications all use MS-SQL as a backend."
This may help you score with nerd-pref chicks.

"Red-heads?" someone asked, with raised eyebrows.

[Wayne]

Thanks all for the feedback. Lyle and David you have confirmed what I
suspected to be the case.

[rkc]

Wayne wrote:

Thanks all for the feedback. Lyle and David you have confirmed what I
suspected to be the case.

Really? That's all it took?