we have about 20,000 test records that's in Excel. we would like to use asp with MS Access as the database to store our data. is there a maximum limit as to how much MS Access can hold?

we would like to be able to search, sort, add, delete, and print report. It would be a web-base so that a customer can enter his/her own information onto a form, then submit it to us. Once it's in-house, each department will perform the different tests of the product send requested.

can the above request be done in ASP and MS Access or do i need to start with SQL?

thanks:
confused:

Access has a maximum of 2 GB per file, although you can use "linked tables" to go beyond that.

If you have a license to SQL Server I'd use that instead. Although Access can work about as well, especially at such a low volume. But some of the extra niceties in SQL, like stored procedures and triggers, make it a nicer platform to code against. Although it can be a slower one.

For that amount of data, you can get away with an Access database and quite easily. I've got Access databases with tables containing hundreds of thousands of records (e-commerce sites), and they run fine.

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Go for Access. Hosts charge more for disc space devoted to SQL Server, or have their plans stacked up to basically do just that, plus you can download the file if you put it behind a password. And you can set up forms and reports inside the one MDB file instead of having to write standalone .net interfaces for people.

SQL Server is a superior database engine, but in ways that it sounds like you won't be taking advantage of. If you were going to, I dunno, be the DMV for your state, you would need SQL Server 2005, but as outlandish as this might sound to the snobbier programmers (and I'm one of them!), Access is optimized for exactly what you want to do. It's less robust in ways you don't need, but easier, more comfortable, and if you already use Excel you'll be a lot more at home.

Believe me I'd like to recommend SQL 2005 Enterprise Edition, but in your case, Access is just better. By about 80 to 120 hours if you do it yourself ( DIY ) and have some idea what you're doing.