DATABASE CHOICES
Microsoft SQL Server
 The Microsoft SQL Server Database
is clearly established as an industry standard, with millions of licenses sold –
and Microsoft SQL Server's popularity continues to grow. The Microsoft SQL Server
Database is easy to program and maintain, easy to add or change data, and can be
used by a wide variety of data aware applications.
- The Microsoft SQL Server Database has been designed for medium to large sized businesses
that cannot afford to spend a lot of time maintaining their computer systems.
- The Microsoft SQL Server Database is designed to provide optimum performance even
during peak load times and ensures mission-critical reliability.
- Microsoft SQL Server Database has an engine that scales from handheld Windows Mobile
devices to managing terabyte symmetric multiprocessor clusters.
The easiest implementation is to use a Microsoft Access FrontEnd. The system would
then have the power of Microsoft Access and the performance and security of SQL
Server.
SQL Server Features
- Online backup – An automatic scheduler can be used to back up the SQL
Server Database, without having to exclude all users.
- Durable transactions – SQL Server logs transactions so that updates
made within a transaction can always be recovered or rolled back to the last consistent
state, if either the Client or the Server computer fails.
- Better Reliability and Data Protection – It is extremely rare that
a crash will cause any loss of data with Microsoft SQL Server.
- Faster Query Processing – SQL Server runs queries on a Server, which
is typically a more powerful computer than the Client workstations. Running queries
on the Server increases the load on the Server more than would happen with a Microsoft
Access File-Server solution, but it can reduce the network traffic substantially
– especially if users are selecting small subsets of data.
- Advanced Hardware Support - Uninterruptible power supplies, hot-swappable
disk drives, and multiple processors can all be added to the Server with no changes
to the Client workstations.
- Integrated Windows Security – SQL Server supports Windows security
accounts to authenticate users who are logging on to a Database. This means that
if users are already logged onto a Windows network, their existing Windows security
groups and accounts can be used to define permissions.
- Advanced Server-side programming – Microsoft SQL Server supports an
SQL dialect called Transact-SQL. Used in conjunction with features such as constraints
and triggers, Transact-SQL allows business and security rules to be defined on the
Server. Transact-SQL can also be used to create stored procedures that run on the
Server to provide flexible and secure access.
SQL Server 2005 and VB.Net
- With Common Language Runtime (CLR) integration, it is possible to code Stored Procedures,
Functions, and Triggers in VB.NET.
- Tasks that were difficult to create in Transact-SQL can be easily done using VB.Net.
- VB.Net provides extensive support for string handling and regular expressions.
- VB.Net code compiles to native code with significant performance improvements.
- VB.Net provides thousands of classes and methods that can be used on the Server
side.
|