Access DB with Custom VB.Net frontend ?'s

[jdub12]

What i want to do it create a custom front end for customers and other vital information. I am very familiar with SQL and vb.net so hopefully that will help me. I have done asp.net with retrieving info from access databases but my problem is this: In asp.net i just upload my .mdb file to the server and access it with code in my pages.

With vb.net, what am i going to need on the computer that installes the front end and customer.mdb file? Can i just put the .mdb in a specified folder and just go ahead and create a connection and access it through my custom front end, or do i need to have something like sql server installed or something. I have never done any win gui programs with databases, however i am pretty familier with sql, acess and vb.net so im sure with a little help from you guys i can figure it out. thanks again!

[goatsucker]

If I understand your question, There is no need to install anything extra to manage an Access database. Everything you need should be in VB.net. Just putting you db where you want it and creating a connection should be fine.

As an aside, applications which use Access (Jet) databases are not Client/Server, but File/Server, as the database is just a dumb file. All processing is done within the client application. For this reason people find that SQL server (or MSDE) perform better for heavy use.

[jdub12]

Im not sure i understand what you mean by client/server and file/server. but yes, you understood my question perfectly. I have another however....if i was to go with sql because of increasing loads...would i be running a computer on a network with sql server and host the database on it, while using on a workstation the front end that i developed for transmitting information over the network protocols? Thanks