SQL Server

[puforee]

Can someone point me to information about installing a SQL server and using MS Access as a front end.

My performance with my MS DB is getting slow and, I assume(?)using a SQL server enviornment would be better.

I have an application server at my disposal, Windows. Can I install SQL server on it. Does it have to be issolated from the Windows area?

Thanks,

 

[markros]

Why do you want to use Access as a front end? I think you may re-think a bit if you really want to use Access as a client application.

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[Qik3Coder]

@puforee: You can install SQL Server on any Windows machine, such as a WinXP, Win7 or a Server2003/2008 machine. Note that the machine will have to be up and running (and possibly logged in) for you to connect to it.

While MS Access is frowned upon by some (*cough*) it is ideal for those that are doing single/few user data entry/reporting and do not have deep programming skills. It does give you a easy way to enter data and still save it in a structured format.

Access does do some row/table locking for updates, so if you have a lot of people working with the data you may want to consider using Visual Basic, or C# for the data form. There are many GUI tools for creating the data entry forms which rival some of the ease of the Access forms.

HTH,
Lodlaiden

If [blue]you have problems[/blue], I want [green]source code[/green] AND [green]error messages[/green], none of this [red]"there was an error crap"[/red]

 

[djj55]

It would be best if you have lots of memory for the machine you use as an SQL Server.

djj
The Lord is my shepherd (Psalm 23) - I need someone to lead me!

 

[markros]

What I found a bit strange is the combination of SQL Server back-end and Access front-end. It may work, but why use Access as a front-end app? If we want to use Access, IMHO, we can use it both as front-end and back-end. And if we want to use SQL Server as back-end, we can use a better front-end, IMHO, such as .NET

PluralSight Learning Library

 

[puforee]

Thanks people. I appreciate all your answers. I am using access because I know access. I wish I knew .net or others but....

Last question...If I use Access as a front end to SQL Db will I see a significant performance increse?

Thanks again,

 

[gmmastros]

I can absolutely understand why someone would want to use Access as a front-end. Primarily because there was already an app. You simply want to separate the DB part, which is (to be quite honest) a next logical step.

If I use Access as a front end to SQL Db will I see a significant performance increse?

Unfortunately, the answer is... it depends. Ultimately you CAN see a performance increase, but it depends on how the data access code was originally written. In fact, you may even see a degradation in performance for certain parts of the app. You should also be aware that upgrading from Access to SQL Server is not just a few mouse clicks away. There's some real coding that (probably) needs to occur.

-George
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
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