Part VI: Access as an Enterprise Platform
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even in the past year or two might be starting to strain the organization’s network. At the same
time, client-server databases like SQL Server are becoming more popular — even with smaller
businesses — because these databases become easier to install, use, and maintain.You may have been advised recently of a new mandate that all new applications must conform to
client-server technology only: No file-server database management allowed. Having already invested a
significant amount of your budget into the Access applications that you’ve developed, you’re naturally
concerned that the move to client-server architecture might require a major rewrite.Fortunately, with Access and its Upsizing Wizard, you can provide a relatively simple and inexpen-
sive solution that retains a significant amount of the original development effort while providing a
database that conforms to client-server methodology.You can automatically convert the tables stored in an existing Microsoft Access database (.accdb
or .mdb) to a client-server database using the Microsoft Access Upsizing Wizard. The Upsizing
Wizard takes an Access .accdb database, and creates an equivalent SQL Server database with the
same table structures, data, and most other attributes of the original database. The Upsizing
Wizard re-creates table structures, indexes, validation rules, defaults, autonumbers, and relation-
ships, and takes advantage of the latest SQL Server functionality wherever possible.Before upsizing an application
Prior to converting an application using the Upsizing Wizard, do the following:l Back up your database. Although the Upsizing Wizard doesn’t remove any data or data-
base objects from your Access database, it’s always a good idea to create a backup copy of
an Access database before upsizing it.l (^) Ensure that you have enough hard-drive space. At a minimum, you need enough hard-
drive space to store the new SQL Server database. Plan to allow at least twice the size of
your Access database to allow room for future growth. If you expect to add a lot of data to
the database, allow a corresponding amount of free disk space on the destination drive.
l (^) Set a default printer. You must have a default printer assigned, because the Upsizing
Wizard creates a report snapshot as it completes the conversion.
SQL Server should be started automatically by the SQL Server Express installation. If SQL Server is
not currently running, use the SQL Server Management Studio Express that was installed along
with SQL Server Express to start SQL Server. The upsizing process needs a running SQL Server
instance.
If, on the other hand, you’re using a SQL Server instance running on another computer on the net-
work, it’s almost surely up and running, and there’s nothing more for you to do.