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Here is a question I get asked ALL the time...

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My site is now live and I am set up for ASP and Access with my hosting company which also has FrontPage server extensions. So no problems there.

I spoke with their programmer and he said that he does not recommend MS Access, though because when multiple people are using the site at once, they are, in fact, each opening a different copy of the database and over time the whole thing gets gummed up and creates problems later on.

His recommendation was PHP with MySQL but I checked into it and I learned that to use PHP with Frontpage I would have to make some changes including disabling FrontPage server extensions. If I do this what are the consequences to the operability of FrontPage?

Do you have any advice as to which direction I should go? I have training on PHP, Joomla and MySQL available to me.

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My reply:

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I get asked this all the time. A lot of web developers out there are biased against using Microsoft Access for web site projects. They cite issues like this - where multiple users on your site can slow things down.

For the most part, this is not a problem. For the vast majority of small and mid-sized businesses, your web site will never generate enough traffic for this to be a problem. I run portions of my 599CD.com web site using back-end Access databases, and I've never had a problem. Unless you're expecting THOUSANDS of concurrent users on your site, an Access database should run just fine.

The good news is that when you finally do find yourself in a situation where your Access database is running slow, you should be able to afford an upgrade to an SQL-Server based solution, which is what I recommend. I have nothing against PHP and MySQL. They're good programs. This is just a matter of personal preference. I have had some difficulty configuring MySQL in the past, and the lack of solid support worries me.

It's the same argument for desktop-based databases. A lot of so-called professional database developers say not to use Microsoft Access to build your desktop database because it's too limited. I say, "nonsense!" Build your small or mid-sized business database in Access and then when you're finding that it's becoming slow, or the database is getting very large, then upscale to SQL-Server.

So, my personal opinion... develop your web site database now using ASP and an Access database. Later, when your site grows, it's not hard at all to upgrade from Access to an SQL server with MINIMAL redesign on your site. Just make sure you put your database declarations in an INCLUDE file so that you only have to change it in one place for your whole site. (If you don't know what an include file is, I cover it in my ASP classes).

For a good background on all of this stuff, and how to get started, see my WEB DATABASE SEMINAR. I walk you through setting everything up using ASP and Access, step-by-step. The first couple of lessons are FREE to make sure you can get everything working.

Richard

P.S. Oh, I don't recommend Joomla at all right now. I just had a good friend of mine pay some developer to build him a site in Joomla, and he had nothing but problems - plus the site runs REAL slow.

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