Which DB to use?

[REGGIEC]

I am upgrading DBase databases to use on a web page. They will be updated on our computer using Visual Basic almost daily and then uploaded to the web page each night. Is Access or SQL Server the best way to go. I heard that Access isn't really good on databases over 5MB so that would seem to answer my question, but we don't need the entire SQL Server package, nothing more than creating the database and maybe a little maintenance. The majority of the updating will be in VB. Is there a smaller SQL package(like the Developers edition maybe??) that would fit my needs or is Access the way to go in this case(or how about Microsoft data engine 1.0???). Thanks for your replies.

 

[PauloRico]

I don't think 5MB is the limit on Access databases. We ran an Access database in a multi-user environment that was well in excess of 5MB.

Also, will this database be updateable on the web, or is it read-only.

Another, probably more important thing to note is that, if you are hosting the web site yourself, and you opt for SQL Server, then you will need to purchase an unlimited user licence, which can be very costly (thousands of pounds).

 

[REGGIEC]

I didnt mean to say the limit was 5 MB. I heard that after about 5 MB, the response time really slowed down. I don't know, just something I heard.

The database will not be updatable on the web. It is read only for the users. all the updating will be done off the web in a Visual Basic program.

We will not be hosting the web site ourself. It will be on another web server. We will be doing the upkeep, but nothing else.

 

[psemianonymous]

Access databases can handle up to 1GB of data and at that point errors. It does scale well beyond 5MB and is very fast provided you index necessary fields.

It does not handle multi-user environments as well as other DBMS's and perfomance does degrade greatly when you exceed its concurrent usage limits. Or so I've heard. If this is going to be "heavily trafficked" then I recommend something other than Access.

 

[Databaseguy]

Providing it's normalized, indexes are set (referential integrity/etc) and is properly designed, Access and .ASP should do the trick.

 

[REGGIEC]

What's your definition of a "heavily trafficked" site? There will probably be a high level of queries at times, but I don't see more than 50-100 people at the peak times accessing anything outside the active server pages made from it.

 

[humbleprogrammer]

Access doesn't even come close to SQL Server when it comes to performance over the web. If you don't want to put out the costs for SQL Server you can also use MySql. See thread333-561555 for more details on this topic.

 

[REGGIEC]

How is SQL Server Developers edition? Like I said, I don't need most of what the SQL Server's bigger editions bring. One person updates the database in Visual Basic, and it gets uploaded to the web site.

Concerning MYSQL. Is there anything special needed to connect to a Visual Basic program or a database in Frontpage, or is it just like connecting any other database(Access or SQL Server)?

Thanks for your replies.

 

[humbleprogrammer]

The developers edition is licensed for use only as a development and test system, not a production server. You may want to look at the standard edition.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/architec/8_ar_ts_8ynn.asp

outlines all the different editions.

MySQL has it's own ODBC driver so you can connect to it through ODBC.

Check out

http://www.mysql.com

for info on MySQL.