Some say Access is unreliable and offers poor performance in any multi-user LIMS environment. Is this true?
No. Those making such statements are either selling a true client/server LIMS or are not familiar with Access or the internals of the Microsoft Jet database engine. It is true that large labs with hundreds of users generating gigabytes of data will require a LIMS with a true client/server database such as Oracle or SQL Server. However, there are many small workgroup environments that have neither the need for a client/server database nor the resources to purchase and administer such a system. MSC-LIMS was developed specifically for these labs. Properly designed, an all-Access LIMS (both “front end” and “back end”) such as MSC-LIMS is a capable solution for small labs. We have had excellent results limiting our Access-based systems to a maximum of twenty concurrent users and using MSC-LIMS Archiving to keep the production database size in check. While Access can not match the performance, recovery and online backup capabilities of a client/server database, it can provide a viable soluti
