RAM - Any upper limit?

[PA]

Hello All --

My group is considering purchasing a server to run
MSAccess 2002/2003 (please don't ask why -- cannon to kill
the fly routine).

If I have 8Gig of RAM on the machine could MSAccess
feasibly eat through all 8Gig to do what it needs to do?
I know -- assuming the max limit of 2Gig file size limit
etc....

I just need to know if anybody has any concrete answers to
a maximum limit or does Access really have no limit on RAM
usage.

Thanks in Advance.

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

Access doesn't run on the server: it runs on the client. The RAM on the
server is completely irrelevant in the discussion.

 

[Guest]

Hey Doug --

Thanks for the reply. Interestingly -- Access does run on
the server in this case as the software was loaded onto a
server. Were you thinking that maybe MSAccess program was
loaded on the client and the .MDB file was on a server?
If that is the case then I understand what you're saying
however MSAccess was loaded onto a Server and has been
running on the server for the past 2-3 years.

Any other thoughts on maximum RAM utilized and is there a
limit?

Thanks again.

 

[Rick B]

I agree that Access should be running on the client. You don't run software
from the server. If you do, I would guess that only one user can access it
at a time? Are all your Microsoft Office Products installed that way?

In any case, 8 GIG of RAM is huge and I can't imagine you creating anything
in Access that would use even a tenth of that. If the average user can run
access on their PC (which generally do not even have hardrives that big,
much less RAM) then you should never have a problem.

You should be able to open your database on your sever and see how much RAM
is free. I'm certain it willnot be reduced much from the level available
prior to opening the database.

Rick B



Hey Doug --

Thanks for the reply. Interestingly -- Access does run on
the server in this case as the software was loaded onto a
server. Were you thinking that maybe MSAccess program was
loaded on the client and the .MDB file was on a server?
If that is the case then I understand what you're saying
however MSAccess was loaded onto a Server and has been
running on the server for the past 2-3 years.

Any other thoughts on maximum RAM utilized and is there a
limit?

Thanks again.

 

[Guest]

Trust me when I say I agree that Access should be running
on a client and NOT the server....but if you've ever had a
boss that DID NOT understand the technology he was dealing
with then maybe I would have a leg to stand on.

Once again I presented the facts to be shot down so I'm
only trying to gain more information to "possibly" show
him the errors of his ways.

Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[Alphonse Giambrone]

I believe the configuration you have is that while the Access files (exe's,
dll's, etc.) are residing on the server, Access is actually running on the
client. Unless, of course, you are actually using terminal services. Access
is simply not a server program and you can't turn it into one simply by
installing it on a server.
You can confirm this by checking task manager on both the client and server
when running an Access app from a client.

 

[Guest]

I'm pretty sure that Access is not running on the client
because the user does not run Access on his local laptop.
Rather he uses PCAnywhere to log into the server to use
it. So I'm pretty sure of the client/server relationship
in this case.

But thanks for the feedback. I understand what you're
saying....but again I can only show the facts to upper
management to prove my points. It depends on whether they
want to open their eyes or not! LOL

 

[Alphonse Giambrone]

Now, you just painted a completely different picture!!
PC anywhere is a remote control program, similar to terminal services.
Everything IS running on the server.
As far as running Access, there is no client/server relationship here.
Access is still not a server program and you can't make it one. PC anywhere
is simply transferring keystrokes and screen images. It is the same as if
the user was sitting at the keyboard of the server.
If the server is to host multiple sessions for PC Anywhere, RAM will help,
so management is not so far off base. Assuming the server will be running
Win 2000 or 20003 I would question using PC Anywhere instead of Terminal
Services. I'm no expert, but I believe Terminal Services is more secure.
You will probably get much more useful configuration advice from a server
newsgroup.