[AccessD] MS Access and data-driven websites

Christopher,

Like you I've had no issues with Access databases as back-end for web-based
apps. For small web sites Access MDBs are appropriate but with the advent of
SQL Server Express 2005 it would be very hard to justify Access MDBs as
database back-ends. I prefer SQL server database back-ends especially for
web-based apps because the task of maintaining the database is so much
easier since there is no need to FTP the MDB to the server and deal with
file-based systems especially permissions on a hosted server environment,
etc...

One advantage (among many) that SQL server has especially when developing
using .NET is the native SQL client that can access SQL server databases.
With Access you have to use OLEDb drivers which is not as efficient as the
SQL client drivers.

Eric 

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Christopher
Hawkins
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2007 4:58 PM
To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com
Subject: [AccessD] MS Access and data-driven websites


Hello, all!  It's been a while since I was here, but I had a thought today
that seemed like a perfect fit for the list, so here I am.

Over the past few years I've more or less specialized around SQL Server and
ASP (both classic and .net).  In fact, 90% of my projects that involve an
interface run in the browser now.  But the one place where I have not been
able to escape MS Access has been on small web sites.

Now, I know that the "conventional wisdom" is that using Access to power
dynamic web sites is a bad idea.  In fact, what inspired this message was a
conversation I had with a DBA acquaintance of mine about this very subject.
He is adamant that it's better to pass on a project than to agree to use
Access to power an asp site.  With him it's SQL Server or nothing.  He cited
all the usual stuff about Access being too slow and not being able to handle
load to bolster his argument.

But, I've had several Access-powered web sites go up over the past few
years.  Sure, it's mostly serving text content, but I've never had an
Access-specific problem with any of them.  And some of them are reasonably
complex on the back-end!  It seems to me that when an Access-powered site is
sucking wind, the problem is more in how the pages are coded than in how JET
works.  It seems simple to me; you don't grab more records than you need,
you close your recordsets, you keep your connection code clean, you turn off
the Subdatasheet property in the mdb.  Little things like that.  

For my larger clients, sure, SQL Server is the way to go, and I'm on the
road to becoming a SQL Server guru myself, but I don't really see any
downsies to using Access to power small sites.

Is anyone else doing a lot of web work?  Are you using Access to power your
dynamic sites?  If so, let me know what your thoughts are on this.  

Respectfully,

Christopher Hawkins
Chief Developer
Cogeian Systems
(559) 687-7591
www.cogeian.com