Database size getting too big?

Performance is more down to how fast your web server is and the amount of memory.

However, the biggest limitation with Access is that it is a desktop flat file with a limitation of 20 concurrent connections.

As a desktop file it is not really up to the job of being used as a forum database and so often becomes corrupted beyond repair.

My advise is that unless you only have a handful of users, use a real DBMS like SQL Server or mySQL.

Access is so bad, that I would rather not support it at all, but for some reason it is poplar with novice users who use windows web hosting.

If you are referring to web wiz forums having 50 users on at once on the access version then there are reasons for this.

The database connection only remains open while the page is being processed by the server, so this may only be for less than a second, then the connection is dropped freeing it up for another user to use.

Also web servers use connection pools, this can also help, and although access according to Microsoft can handle 255 concurrent connections, the connection pool in IIS is usually limited to 20 which is shared across the entire server.

Still though at the end of the day, Access is a desktop file, which works just like storing data in a slightly more complex text file, so just is not up to the job of supporting a forum which continually updates and reads from this file. This often leads to the file becoming corrupted thus all the data for the forum is lost.

If you are using a forum you should really look at using a Relational Database Management System (RDMS) like mySQL and SQL Server, both these are servers and are built to support large databases and many 1000's of users with continual updates.

You really can not compare Access to SQL Server or mySQL, Access is just a simple desktop file built for small desktop applications, and not designed for the abuse an online forum will place on it.

If you want to use Access then go ahead, but please don't come crying on here when you wake up one day to find that your Access database file has become corrupted and you have lost all the data.


Edited by -boRg- - 03 April 2006 at 3:01pm

I don't even have access any more as I now use Open Office 2 instead for the few documents I write a year as it is not only free but much faster than MS Office and compatble with MS Office documents, spreadsheets, etc. and can even work with Access databases.

Also I don't want to pay over £100 for the standalone version of Access, that costs twice as much as the Developers version of SQL 2005!!

If you look at mySQL and SQL Server 2005 Express they are both really good database servers and are free, which is much better than Access which is not only rubbish, but quite expensive.

I'm hoping that most web hosts will start to see the light and start offering SQL Server 2005 Express as a cheap and better alternative to Access on their hosting plans.


Edited by -boRg- - 04 April 2006 at 10:55am