Compare Access 2k and SQL Server 2k

[Guest_imported]

I'm trying to do a report on when to use SQL Server and when to use Access. I need to detail the benefits and detriments associated with each DBMS.

Does anyone know of any links or resources I could use as reference material for my paper?

 

[DougP]

some thoughts.

The biggest issue is cost. And amount of data each can handle. SQL Server is Client/Sever, meaning the client requests something of the SQL server and it only passes back than small amount of data, Access passes the whole database back and forth and can be slow at times.

Access is real cheap, Few hundred $$US
SQL server is not “Thousands” and requires an NT server, which is much more costly that a client running Access. Plus the overhead of managing SQL. You can install a limited version of SQL server on a Windows client such as '9x or NT. But you lose a lot of security and speed. SQL can handle security by allowing users NT authentication or SQL authentication, Access is a lot more difficult to set up security. SQL maintains a transaction log for failure reasons. If the database is destroyed it can be re-built up to the very last transaction. Access, if the database is destroyed you lose everything until your last backup. SQL is not for the novice to set up, Access can be installed by anyone.

SQL Servers are for very large amounts of data and can be spread across multiple machines. It can take advantage of Multiple Processors too.

DougP, MCP

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