[AccessD] Future of Access?

I'd agree with Gustav about going web based though.  That immediately
resolves remote end users.  I personally use Access 97 .mdb's, with VBScript
(for Intranet users) and ASP (but I can make most stuff strictly ASP, so no
client side scripting is necessary).

Going web based may even ride out an OS change, because you can just keep a
web server running on it's own.  The only issue would be a complete change
in TCP/IP, which I think is far more unlikely then a big shift in OS design.
(With the exception of the 5 byte IP Address...to handle more
connections....).  Also, what many people don't realize that is that web
based solutions are using WAY over powered.  I crunched some numbers on our
web server.  It hosts http://www.marlow.com .  First of all, it is running
on a PIII gigahertz processor, with 384 megs of RAM.  Not a whooping
machine.  In fact, it wasn't even the top of the line desktop when we bought
it 2 years ago.  However, with an average of 280 unique visitors a day, the
webserver is using 9.8% of the systems processing time.  That is a drop in
the bucket.

Drew

-----Original Message-----
From: Foote, Chris [mailto:Chris.Foote at uk.thalesgroup.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 4:57 AM
To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
Subject: RE: [AccessD] Future of Access?


Thanks for the input Gustav!

I'd forgotten about Oracle! I'll add that to the list of possibilities.

The requirements are (at this stage) pretty vague, but is likely to involve
up to ten concurrent users on geographically remote sites. I'm guessing on
half a million records split between five/six main tables. My current A97 db
with 16k records weighs in at (FE + BE) 15MB. My proposed db is not much
more complicated than this.

Thirty years ago my programming was done on a Ferranti Pegasus mainframe. I
had to write the programme one paper with a pencil, convert it to hole on
punched cards, wait for the technician to run the programme and give me the
paper read-out. The Pegasus (IIRC) used 60 thousand ECC83 valves (tubes) and
had a whole building to itself. Thirty years on, I've got more processing
power in my cell phone!

But my company /still/ wants me to design a database to be used for the
/next/ thirty years!

Best Regards!
Chris Foote (UK)


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gustav Brock [mailto:gustav at cactus.dk]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 10:30 AM
> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] Future of Access?
> 
> 
> Hi Chris
> 
> If you are thinking of keeping the same app and database engine alive
> for 30 years I would go for Java and Oracle or DB2. Microsoft 
> is indeed
> unpredictable for a time span of this size.
> 
> However, you don't tell anything about the requirements, the amount of
> data, number of users or the complexity of the app. Nothing widely
> used - be it a programming language or a database format - disappears
> in a year; a dBase III or Paradox I application will run today which
> will have left you with at least five years considering how to port
> such an app to a present system.
> 
> /gustav
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