Possible upgrade?

L

Leslie Isaacs

Hello All

I hope these are appropriate newsgroups for my query - if not I would be
very grateful if someone could tell me where to go!

I currently have a peer-to-peer network of 5 PCs, all running W2K
Professional. They are used almost exclusively for working on a pretty
complex access97 database. One of the 5 PCs is used purely as a
'fileserver': this is where the 'backend' data for the database resides, and
4 people work on the other 4 PCs which each has it's own 'frontend'.

I am considering upgrading the 'fileserver' to a 'proper' fileserver, and/or
to having Windows Small Business Server 2003 installed on it, and would be
grateful for any advice, thoughts, etc. about whether this would be
worthwhile. We do not have any complex requirements (re remote access,
etc.): the all-important thing is reliability and SPEED while working on the
access database application. Too often nowadays we get the egg-timer for
10-20 seconds on changing screens (while the underlying query runs).

I have considered upgrading to Office2003, but am concerned that this may in
fact be slower that A97?

I should add that we also have a shared ASDL connection which is used
increasingly heavily now on the 4 PCs.

I am also considering upgrading the PCs. They are all 12-18 month old, and a
mixture of P3s at 666MHz and P4s at 2000MHz, all with 256mb RAM. As far as
speeding up the access97 application is concerned, I was wondering about the
difference a new P4 at 3000MHz and 512mb would make - as compared to the
difference made by a 'proper' fileserver with Windows Small Business Server
2003 installed on it.

I hope someone can advise me with regard to investing on the current setup.

Many thanks
Leslie Isaacs
 
D

Dave

my unscientific opinion would be to upgrade the cpu's and memory first...
1gb ram wouldn't hurt if the database is large or has complex queries. the
next thing i would try is upgrading network speed, 100mb or 1gb would
improved access to the backend data. after that consider upgrading the hard
drive speed on the 'server', then it's cpu/memory, and as a last resort the
server os.
 
D

DL

I notice you mentioned Office2003, presumably inc. Access2003?
If so and your Access97 db contains code there well may be a conversion
process to be considered
 
L

Leslie Isaacs

Hello DL

Thanks for your reply.

What do you mean by "there well may be a conversion process to be
considered": what are the considerations?
There is (are?) tons of code in the A97 db.

Thanks for your help.
Les
 
L

Leslie Isaacs

Hello Pieter

Thanks for your reply.

Sorry to be so ignorant: how would I go about upgrading to MSDE? I think I
have heard that MSDE is a free alternative to JET. If this is the case (?),
where do I get it from, and is the upgrade reliable - and simple enough for
a non-expert to do?

Thanks for your help.
Les
 
L

Leslie Isaacs

Hello John

Thanks for your reply.

Maybe I'm being ignorant here (?), but presumably the path-filename is
completely determined by the actual path to the backend (so I should put it
in the root directory of the 'server' PC, instead of in
\\server\payeroll\data?) and the name of the backend (so I should call it
'data' instead of 'payroll data 2004 2005'?)

On your 2nd suggestion, how do I keep a persistant recordset open?

Thanks for your help.
Les
 
L

Leslie Isaacs

Hello Dave

Many thanks for your suggestions: I'll work through your list!

Les
 
D

DL

When I converted my Acc97 db to Acc2K there was a fair bit of
amendment/recoding I had to do within the 'my new' Acc2k db. I would assume
there would be similar process to go through converting A97 to A2003.
 
J

John Vinson

Hello John

Thanks for your reply.

Maybe I'm being ignorant here (?), but presumably the path-filename is
completely determined by the actual path to the backend (so I should put it
in the root directory of the 'server' PC, instead of in
\\server\payeroll\data?) and the name of the backend (so I should call it
'data' instead of 'payroll data 2004 2005'?)

Yes: the engine must resolve the full path even if
\\server\payroll\data 2004 is mapped to P:.
On your 2nd suggestion, how do I keep a persistant recordset open?

See Tony's performance FAQ:

http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/performancefaq.htm

John W. Vinson[MVP]
 
L

Leslie Isaacs

Hello DL

Thanks again for your reply.
Can I ask whether your db slowed down noticably after converting to A2K? I
have read thia this is often the case.

Many thanks
Les
 
D

DL

No, no slow down allthough its not dramatically big. ie 26mb some 20tbls,
25forms,100+ queries, 20k records.
I only recently split the db. It made no obvious diff. I had not
prev.suffered any corruption.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Similar Threads

RAM upgrade 2
Performance and MDEs 4
Windows 7 Question 7
Sharing email 2
Access 2003/2007 compatibility problem 3
Microsoft Access 2000 and VSS 2005 3
MDB keeps 'corrupting' 6
Shared email 1

Top