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If your website will need to leverage a database to record orders and customer information, for example, most hosting companies can fulfill your needs. However, there are different databases to choose from. Each database has disadvantages and advantages

Key Points - Databases
mySQL
SQL Server
Access

Typically, the three databases that you can choose from are:

  • mySQL
  • Microsoft Access
  • Microsoft SQL Server

If you have a large commercial site you will not only need to decide which database platform is best, but also how your database will be configured in conjunction with your web site. At the most highest level, you have two choices: rent database space on a larger database server or purchase the database software yourself and install on your web server (this only applies if you decide to leverage a dedicated web server). Graphically, each option would appear as follows:

In the long run, owning your own database software is less expensive than renting one from a hosting company. However, if you cannot afford to purchase the database software initially, renting the software is a less expensive short term option. Options like mySQL and Access generally are free or very low priced.

The database you choose is also dependant upon the level of sophistication of your web site. Each has its advantages and disadvantages:

Database
Advantages
Disadvantages
ACCESS
  • Very inexpensive to free
  • Easy to learn
  • Quick to implement
  • Limited in what it can do with respect to real database manipulations, those contained in SQL.
  • Does not handle large amounts of data well.
  • Less reliable.
mySQL
  • Very fast, efficient fairly well featured
  • Can handle large amounts of data.
  • Very inexpensive to free.
  • It's easy to learn and quick to implement.
  • Cannot handle complex relational issues such as subselects (subqueries)
  • Transactions and commit/rollback not directly supported. Commercial sites with online ordering capabilities will find this lack of transaction support disappointing.
  • Weak support for foreign keys and referential integrity
  • No stored procedures and triggers.
SQL Server
  • Expensive
  • Significant learning curve
  • Supports very large databases
  • Support for triggers, stored procedures, and other database analysis tools

Before you select any database for your website, establish an understanding of your short-term and long-term needs. An easy option is to use a service like eCriteria that hosts and manages a database for you, leaving very little work to be done on your end. For the small site it can be the perfect type of solution to meet your database requirements quickly.

 

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Resources For Databases
eCriteria is a web-hosted database facility providing quick, easy-to-use, and cost-effective publishing of web database content. No programming or database knowledge is required and there is no software to install. They securely host your data. You can create a web database and attach it to a new or existing website in about 15 minutes.

This is a worth a look if you want a hassle free and quick database solution

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