# of accesses to MS Access

[Richard]

From what I understand MS Access 2000 only allows a
limited number of machines (20-25) to access a database at
a time. I have a LAN using Windows 2000 Server with 40
workstations (Windows 98 Machines) with access to the
database. I get errors, lock-ups, and slow responses. Is
there any way to expand the number of concurrent
connections??

 

[david epsom dot com dot au]

Win98 workstations with Win2K server is (apparently)
known to be slow and error prone. Access is uniquely
demanding on the system, so it shows up the problems
that you would otherwise not notice. As a matter of
semantics, I tend to blame this on Win2K, not Access
(you wouldn't see the problems if you were using
WinNT server), but then, the network does function
correctly if you don't push it very hard, and there are steps
you can take without having to do a proper re-design
of your application:

Microsoft Access Performance FAQ
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/performancefaq.htm

(david)

PS: The Jet Database engine is a distributed engine, it
actually runs separate instances on each workstation, so
the number of concurrent connections is seldom a limitation
(it can be a limitation if a badly designed web pages is
unexpectedly loaded). There is, of course, a limit on the
number of concurrent connections to your server, but
presumably if you have 40 workstations you also have
40 Win2K server CAL's