SQL Server Express is a version of SQL server you can install on a computer available to all your Access Front End users that will provide a more robust back end than using Access accdb files.
How much does it cost? It’s free!
So what’s the catch?
Not much of a problem for small businesses with up to say 25 – 30 users:
- CPU and Memory Limits:
- Limited to the lesser of 1 socket or 4 cores.
- Buffer pool memory is capped at 1,410 MB.
- Maximum memory for Columnstore segment cache per instance is 352 MB.
- Database Size:
- Each database is limited to a maximum size of 10 GB.
- High Availability and Advanced Features:
- No support for SQL Server Agent, which means you can’t schedule jobs like backups and maintenance tasks.
- No support for high availability features like failover clustering or availability groups.
- Performance:
- While SQL Server Express can handle small to medium workloads, it may not perform well under heavy loads due to its resource limitations.
- Other Limitations:
- Limited to 1 GB of RAM for the buffer cache.
- Reporting Services components are limited to 4 GB of RAM if using the Express with Advanced Services edition.
SQL Server Express is a great choice for most small businesses, will likely run on existing hardware in the office, is free, and is a Microsoft product designed to work with other Microsoft products like Microsoft Access.
This is the first line of upgrades once your backend files start getting too big or more than 5 – 10 users start using your database concurrently.