Comparison of Access and SQL Server databases

You can use iBase with both SQL Server and Microsoft Access databases. This allows you to work with the scale of data appropriate to your analysis. iBase automatically recognizes the type of database and you can switch between them within an iBase session.

Access should only be used as the supporting database if the number of simultaneous users is five or less. When a database of more than 200 Mb is accessed by a number of users simultaneously then consideration should be given to using SQL Server. Using SQL Server increases the size of database that can be created and analyzed beyond the theoretical 2 Gb limit of iBase using Access. However, there is no definitive maximum database size because this depends on factors, such as: the nature of the data, the configuration of the server, the type of analysis, and acceptable response times. The most significant factor is the amount of memory on the server.

There are some extra capabilities when the database is stored in SQL Server format. These additional features are summarized below:

iBase feature comparison
Feature Description
Search 360 Provides extra and more powerful features to Word Search, in particular the ability to search for words or phrases, allowing for typing errors, spelling mistakes, missing spaces, and so on. See Setting up Search 360.
Queries SQL Server databases allow:
  • Queries to be run that count the number of different entities linked to a specific entity (called distinct counts)
  • The use of Any Link/Entity queries as source to other queries
  • You to run more flexible queries that use semantic types
Alerting SQL Server databases allow users to set up alert definitions to monitor items of interest in the database, such as single records or the results of queries, and receive alerts when any changes are detected. For details, seeConfiguring alerting .
Bulk import SQL Server databases allow you to import large volumes of data more quickly than using the standard import mechanism. See Overview of Bulk Import for details.
XML import SQL Server databases allow you to import from an XML data source when you work in iBase Designer.
Note: An XML import is a type of bulk import.
XML export SQL Server databases allow users that work in iBase to export data as XML.
Note: An XML export is a type of database subset.
Use of Security Classification Codes SQL Server databases allow you to classify each record with a security classification code so that access is restricted on a record by record basis. For details, see Using Security Classification Codes. This feature requires an Extended Access Control license.
Use of cases In an SQL Server database, you can partition your database by case so that access to data is restricted on a case by case basis. See What is case control? for details.
Audit level 5 This additional audit level allows you to log when entity and link records are accessed or viewed, without change to the data.

For example, it logs all records which have been in a human readable form in the session whether charted, printed, shown, and so on. This feature does not necessarily log all records that were requested. This keeps the audit file smaller and is a more accurate reflection of what the user may have seen.
Audit history You can audit changes to the data in the database by selecting the Audit History option. This is available regardless of the audit level of the database.