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Total MS-SQL Server novice... Access or MSSQL?

Posted 12 May 2004 00:41:43
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12 May 2004 00:41:43 Richard Georgiou posted:
Hi DMX...

I have a web site/DB that's is being developed. Basically without boring you all on the ins and outs I'm using DMX2004 ASP and Access DB's for my site...

One of the DB's contains 96,000 records. This DB only contains one table and two short fields in the table... I'm not sure what the usage of this site will be but I'd like it to be able to cope with at least 3 simultaneous users...

Am I asking too much of Access or should I be looking at MS-SQL?

I've never had any dealings with MSSQL and need to know some basic information...

I've got two computers here that I am using to develop this site. I've got my main PC with DMX2004, Access, Photoshop etc which is running WinXP Pro and I've got a Win2kServer machine that I use to host my asp site whilst testing.

I've heard that even to just install MS-SQL I need to have Win2K Advanced Server at the very least. I only have Win2kServer... Is this a problem?

Do I need to install the whole thing or could I create the DB's I need and get the data imported into them using just the client? What's the difference between the clinet and the whole package?

Sorry to be a dummy on this but I can't seem to find an answer on the internet that makes any sence to me at all !

Thanks for your time
Richard Georgiou


Replies

Replied 12 May 2004 15:37:34
12 May 2004 15:37:34 Vince Baker replied:
Hi Richard,

Normal 2k server is fine. The only reason you would use Adv server for SQL is if you needed more RAM supported or Processors. Normal 2K server will only support 4GB of RAM, and I think only two processors.

You use the client apps such as Enterprise Manager to configure the db and there is a sql query analyser which is a great tool for analysing data retrieval and field indexing but for a single table, you probably wont get much benefit from this.

As for whethere access is 'man' enough for the job, you really need to think if the table is going to grow considerably and also to run some speed tests to see if the data recovery when you load your page is slow (just do this in IE).

I tend to use Access for small business solutions or personal sites but these can for example have 20 or 30 joined tables and I have never really had any problems.

For larger solutions I use MS SQL as it is one of the big 3 ERP dbs. For your needs i personally think that access should be fine, it can handle many multiple connections and remember that if you are using odbc connections, you are reducing the number of connections required.

Would be good for you to experiment with MS SQL just to add it to your skills list, many large companies use it (but in my experience, Oracle and AS400 are the two main dbs if you are going to be dealing with Intranets or Extranets).

The syntax is slightly different in SQL server than access and you have many more sql commands available which are all things again to add to your skills list.

MS SQL has a great data migration tool so moving your existing data will not be a problem.

In theory, it should also run on XP Prof, but I have never tried it.

Hope this points you in the right direction.

Regards
Vince

DMX Talkzone Manager

Visit my home: www.chez-vince.com

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Edited by - bakerv on 12 May 2004 15:38:22

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