Reasons to Migrate from Microsoft Access to MySQL

Use of MySQL as a storage manager for Access offers several benefits. One is that

you can use your information in additional ways when it's not locked into Access.

Other differences pertain more specifically to the case where you intend to continue

using Access as the user interface to your information.

Deployment of information. When your information resides in MySQL, you're free

to continue using it from Access if you wish, but a number of other possibilities open

up as well. Any kind of MySQL client can use the information, not just Access. This

allows your data to be exploited more fully in more contexts, and by more people. For

example, other people can use the data through the standard MySQL client programs

or from GUI-based applications. Your database also becomes more accessible over

the Web. Access now provides some capabilities for making a database available on

the Web, but if MySQL manages the database, you have a wider range of options.

MySQL integrates easily with Web servers like Apache through any of a number of

languages, such as Perl, PHP, Python, Java, and Ruby. This allows you to provide a

Web interface to your database with the language of your choice. In addition, the

interface can be accessed by browsers on many types of machines, providing a

platform-independent entryway to your information. All of these components can be

obtained for free--MySQL, Apache, and the languages just mentioned have been

released as Open Source. You can also obtain them in packages that include support.

Multiple-user access. Although Access provides some data sharing capabilities, that

is not really its strength. It has the feel of a single-user data manager designed for

local use. MySQL, on the other hand, easily handles many simultaneous users. It was

designed from the ground up to run in a networked environment and to be a multiple-

user system that is capable of servicing large numbers of clients.

Management of large databases. MySQL can manage hundreds of megabytes of

data, and more. Care to try that with Access?

Security. When Access tables are stored locally, anyone can walk up to your

Windows machine, launch Access, and gain access to your tables. It's possible to

assign a database a password, but many people routinely neglect to do so. When your

tables are stored in MySQL, the MySQL server manages security. Anyone attempting

to access your data must know the proper user name and password for connecting to

MySQL.

Backup management. If you work in an organization that supports many Access

users, migrating data to MySQL provides a benefit for backups and data integrity.

With Access databases centralized in MySQL, they're all backed up using the regular

MySQL backup procedures that already exist at your site. If individual Access users

each store their data locally, backup can be more complicated: 50 users means 50

database backups. While some sites address this problem through the use of network

backups, others deal with it by making backups the responsibility of individual

machine owners--which unfortunately sometimes means no backups at all.

Local disk storage requirements. Local Access database files become smaller,

because the contents of tables are not stored internally, they're stored as links to the

MySQL server where the tables reside. This results in reduced local disk usage. And,

should you wish to distribute a database, less information need be copied. (Of course,

anyone you distribute the database to also must have access to the MySQL server.)

Cost. MySQL can be obtained for free. Access cannot. Providing other means of

using your database (such as through a Web interface) can reduce your dependence on

proprietary software and lower your software acquisition and licensing costs.

Hardware choices. MySQL runs on several platforms; Access is a single-platform

application. If you want to use Access, your choice of hardware is determined for you.