Max number of users Access can handle 2

[lizI3]

what is the max number of users access recomends have in a mulit user enviornment? From experience what is the max number of users you would recomend using access for?

thanks Liz

 

[SoloDroid]

Hello Liz,
There is a mixed-bag answer. I believe that Microsoft says 5-10 should be ok. There's a point at which they don't guarentee it -- 8+ I think. The maximum is supposed to be 25. Of course this is also system-dependant.

Basically Access is a lousy multi-user database. I personally wouldn't recommend more than 5 concurrent connections.

If you need a more powerful DBMS that has no real user limits, look into Microsoft SQL Server (moderate price), MySQL (very cheap to license), or Oracle (big $$$).

I recommend Microsoft SQL Server as it has the best balance between price and features. However, if you choose to switch to an enterprise DBMS, you should also make sure that you have someone who is qualified to develop and manage the database on-site. These are not simple or user-friendly like Microsoft Access.
Good Luck, Robert
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Professional, affordable, Access database solutions and assistance

http://www.SoloDroid.com

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[lizI3]

Thanks Robert, We are running access with less than 10 usere at any given time. Some of the big bosses are not keen on running access with mutli users, but our db is small and kept at approx. 2800 records. I believe SQL server 2000 maybe an over kill.

thanks for your help
Liz

 

[evalesthy]

Do an 'Advanced Search' in this forum using keywords "number of users" and you will see many posts about this exact issue. As mentioned it really does depend on database design, are users concurrent, are they viewing or editing data, is database split (it should be), etc., etc. We run many commercial apps with 8 terminals (not users) constantly in use for data entry (not just viewing) where tables contain many tens of thousands of records with no problems. I've heard of much more intensive use with no problems.

 

[KornGeek]

MichaelRed (who's information I have found to be pretty reliable) has claimed to have 75 concurrent users. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the thread right now, but if I find it later, I'll post a link.

Others have warned of difficulty around the 10 or 50 mark. I have only personally tested with 3 concurrent users, but I expect to test a larger group in the near future.

When SoloDroid said the limit is 25, I think Microsoft claims the actual limit is 255. This is probably a hard limit, beyond which the software cannot support users. However, I'm guessing that there exists somewhere a practical limit. I'm personally hoping with my database design that 100 would be permitted. I'm not expecting that many (and would actually have difficulty testing it), but that is my target number.

Please let me know how things work in your environment. Remember that database design plays a significant role in the performance, so 10 users might be too many in one design, while 50 might cause only trivial impact on others.

Good luck to you.

 

[perrymans]

FINAL WORD

Maximum possible users: 255
MS Recommends: 25-50

I read that last week, directly from the MS Access site when researching the Office Developer Edition.

Sean.

 

[KornGeek]

Sean,
Any chance you could post a link to the info? It would be nice if we could point future discussions to the "horse's mouth", so to speak.

Thanks.

 

[SoloDroid]

Very interesting. I guess I underestimated the abilities of Access in this area. Every thread that I have ever read gave figures similar to what I posted above. I never found that info in Microsoft's knowledgebase... though I never really looked for it.
Thank you, Robert
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Professional, affordable, Access database solutions and assistance

http://www.SoloDroid.com

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

 

[GDGarth]

I've got several databases with over 10 concurrent users. As I've gotten more experience, I've been able to eliminate most of the problems from having a number of users.

I've got one database that typically has up to a dozen concurrent users, and it's not even split! It will crash rarely - about every three months or so. I've got another unsplit database that has about 20 concurrent users that has never had a problem - of course, we only use that for inventory about three times a year. I'm planning on splitting it before we use it again.

If you split your database, and use some intelligent design, I wouldn't be afraid of twenty concurrent users (and many more total users).

 

[perrymans]

I am at home now, but I may be able to find it easier from work. However, I was readin up on Access Projects and found this reference when discussing .mdb's on a server:

"Although a file-server solution can handle up to 255 simultaneous users, if users of your solution will be frequently adding and updating data, an Access file-server solution is generally best for no more than 25 to 50 users."

This is at:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnapg/html/apg01.asp

Sean.

 

[KornGeek]

Sean,
Thanks for posting that. I think we can consider this an official answer.

 

[lizI3]

Thanks everyone very much.. This is very helpful. I agree that I can take this back to work as an official answer.