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Re: [PLUG] not MS SQL Server
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On Friday 21 June 2002 08:51, Jon Galt wrote:
> Greetings fellow pluggers,
> this is an anti-MS question that requires some knowledge of MS Access.
> I have a friend who wants to use open source software (hurray!) wherever
> possible, but currently he has a database in MS Access, with about 100 MS
> Word forms that pull data from the database for reports, etc.
> Their database is in two .mdb files, the "front end" which the users
> see, and the "back end" which holds the actual data.
> They are growing and they want to switch to a real database system with
> multiple users. Currently they have a very labor intensive process, where
> the database is only accessible on one computer in one of their two
> offices.
> I'm thinking a good transition would be to leave the front end alone,
> and replace the back end with an open source database like PostgreSQL,
> running on Linux or *BSD.
> So here's my main question: How (and how easily) can this be done? I'm
> sure it can be done by replacing the back end with MS SQL Server, but
> that's something they want to avoid because of the cost.
> They have mentioned FreeBSD, but I'm not sure between FreeBSD, NetBSD
> and Linux, which one is better with respect to security. Anybody?
> (Gabriel? :-) )
> Another question: Can Access be used on multiple workstations in a VPN
> environment to access a common back end database? (I think if the VPN is
> done correctly, it shouldn't make any difference to the front end app - it
> should just look like a LAN. But I'm just checking.)
> They're kind of on a shoestring, so I want to make the transition easy
> for them.
I am a strong proponent of MS Access (surprise everyone) as it's a great,
quick-and-dirty (or quick and slick) environment. It also has the advantage
of being on most people's desktops already, so there no messy install process
to worry about. As to back end, MS Access sucks rocks on Mondays and other
things on other days.
The back end could be anything for which there is an MDAC-compatible ODBC or
JDBC interface. I'm pretty sure PostgreSQL and maybe MySQL have interfaces
that will work. Then you just replace all your Access tables with [OJ]DBC
links which have the identical names as the old tables when they were Access
tables. If all goes well, that's all the porting you'll have to do.
-Beldon, former SQL Server DBA and Access programmer.
--
God made machine language; all the rest is the work of man.
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