On Wed, Jun 05, 2002 at 10:28:15PM -0000, Jay Liew wrote: > Hello everyone, > > I am new to database operations, and I was wondering if there were any > advantages or using MS Access to MySQL. Don't get me wrong, but I would > prefer Open Source over proprietary, but this is a mission-critical > commercial purpose database. Any comments, would be much appreciated. Thank you.
I use both Access and MySQL, and they both have their good points and bad points. If you are choosing between them, it's not enough to say "mission critical"; you have to specify what you are doing that's mission critical and then pick the DBMS accordingly. Actually, your choice is between Jet and MySQL, not Access and MySQL. Access ships with the Jet database engine and uses it by default, but you can design an Access front end for a MySQL backend. I've done this myself and it's not hard. If you are serious about getting information, you should be more specific about what you plan to do, and post your question in a newsgroup that deals with Access. Some Access developers claim to have created Jet-based apps that supported over one hundred users without problems. None of my Access apps have been used by more than twenty users, but I haven't had any problems at that level of use, and one of these was client/server over a really terrible unreliable network. After a year of use, with about twenty users who tended to all use the app at the same time, the client reported no problems. Access gets a bad name because: 1) MS wants to sell SQL Server licences and makes Jet sound less capable than it really is 2) Access has features that allow people who know very little about databases and programming to create databases that can be shared by a small number of people. But using these features tends to limit the number of people who can use the database without having problems. And developers who are new to Access use these features. The two obvious differences between Jet and MySQL are 1) Administration: You can install a Jet database for a client that has no one on staff who knows anything about databases. If the app is properly designed, you won't have to make very many visits to deal with problems. With MySQL, a certain minimal level of in-house DBA knowledge is necessary. 2) Concurrent Users: Depending on circumstances, both Jet and MySQL vary in the number of users they can handle, but under all circumstances, Jet has a lower limit. Bob Hall -- Access Hamsters: Free tools for users, DBAs, and developers. Source Code: More of the same, with source code. SQL: Solutions, troubleshooting tips, etc. for Jet & MySQL http://users.starpower.net/rjhalljr/Serve --------------------------------------------------------------------- Before posting, please check: http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual) http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive) To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php
