Microsoft Access Database Limitations

Q: What are the limitations of using Microsoft Access® as your web site's database?

Note: The following answer comes from the Microsoft Knowledge base article called HOW TO: Keep a Jet 4.0 Database in Top Working Condition. For more information, we suggest that you read the article in its entirety.

A: Microsoft Jet (the default database engine used by Microsoft Access) is a file-sharing database system. A file-sharing database is one in which all the processing of the file takes place at the client. When a file-sharing database, such as Microsoft Jet, is used in a multi-user environment, multiple client processes are using file read, write, and locking operations on the same shared file across a network. If, for any reason, a process cannot be completed, the file can be left in an incomplete or a corrupted state. Two examples of when a process may not be completed is when a client is terminated unexpectedly or when a network connection to a server is dropped.

Microsoft Jet is not meant to be used with high-stress, high-concurrency, 24x7 server applications, such as Web, commerce, transactional, and messaging servers. For these type of applications, the best solution is to switch to a true client/server-based database system such as Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) or Microsoft SQL Server. When you use Microsoft Jet in high-stress applications such as Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), customers have reported database corruption, stability issues such as IIS crashing or locking up, and also a sudden and persistent failure of the driver to connect to a valid database that requires re-starting the IIS service.

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