Reasons Not to Migrate


Just as there are reasons to migrate an application to SQL Server, there are also reasons not to migrate an application. Take a good look at your motivations in migrating the application and make sure they are sound. You should ensure that the migration is necessary (after all, it is a lot of extra work) and that migrating the application will not negatively affect users.

Size

Just as size is a reason to migrate, it is also a reason not to migrate. Access is very good at dealing with small databases. You may find that migrating a database that is less than 10MB is not worth the effort involved. Also, SQL Server has a certain amount of overhead that can degrade the performance of a small database. You will probably find that a small database in Access performs better than the same database on SQL Server because of the index processing that must take place.

Organization of Data

If you are using size to justify your migration, you may also want to take a look at how the database is designed. Running queries against an Access database that has 100 tables, each containing 1,000 records can be very quick. This may seem like a large database, but Access returns the data in much the same way that it would if there was only one table containing 1,000 records. If, however, your database has one table with 1,000,000 records, you can safely assume that this database should be migrated . SQL Server will deal with this database much better than Access will.

User Connectivity

One of the problems with using SQL Server as your database is that users must have constant access to the server. In some applications, this is not possible. If each copy of the application runs separately from each other and has its own data file, you probably should not move the application to SQL Server. Doing so would eliminate the users' ability to work with the application when they are not connected to the network. Although it may be possible to redesign the application so that all users access the same database, it may not be practical. Because the original database was running locally on a user's PC, the original design will probably run much faster because it does not need to engage network resources to work with data.

Cost

Cost is always a major factor in each migration from Access to SQL Server. It is often a very good reason not to migrate an application. There are multiple costs that are incurred in the process of migration and any one or all of them should be considered carefully before a migration takes place.




Real World Microsoft Access Database Protection and Security
Real World Microsoft Access Database Protection and Security
ISBN: 1590591267
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 176

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