- Why This Chapter Is Important
- Understanding the Client/Server Model
- Deciding Whether to Use the Client/Server Model
- The Roles Access Plays in the Application Design Model
- Learning the Client/Server Buzzwords
- Upsizing: What to Worry About
- Proactively Preparing for Upsizing
- Using the Upsizing Wizard
- Defining an ODBC Data Source
- Connecting to a Database Server
- Summary
Proactively Preparing for Upsizing
If you set up your tables and code modules with upsizing in mind, you can eliminate many of the pitfalls discussed previously. Despite any of the problems that upsizing can bring, the scalability of Access is one of its strongest points. Sometimes resources are not available to implement client/server technology in the early stages of an application. If you think through the design of the project with the possibility of upsizing in mind, you will be pleased at how relatively easy it is to move to client/server technology when the time is right. With the Access 2000 and Access 2002 Upsizing Wizards, which are designed to upsize an Access application to Microsoft SQL Server, the process is relatively simple. The upsizing tools for Access 2000 and Access 2002 perform a lot of the work involved in upsizing a database, with just the click of a few buttons.
CAUTION
Although the upsizing tools for Access 2000 and Access 2002 are both excellent, they do have their drawbacks. For example, they do not always map the Access field type to the desired SQL Server field type. For this reason, you can opt not to use the wizards. If, despite their shortcomings, you decide to use the upsizing wizards, make sure that you carefully review both the upsizing report and the structure of each table after it is upsized.