What are the differences between MySQL, Microsoft Access Database... etc?

[knine82]

What are the differences between the database types around? Issit because due to performance or security and stuff like that?

For example, what kind of database should i use for the scenarios below:
a)i wanna do a shopping cart for an online application?
b)A business application with important information of clients?
c) A very small scale website with just simple updates on products, no transactions involved?

Pls help me on this.. thanks : :cool:

[russell_g_1]

access can only do small scale stuff really. it can't grow to the size of a lot of these other databases. it lacks any real security. it also lacks support for stored procedures and several other things you might want to use. ms are actually trying to phase it out i think and make people use sql server express instead.

as for your examples...

you could do them all in access if they were small. once they get bigger/need more features/need more speed etc, then you need to start moving up to mysql, ms sql, and then maybe to oracle if you want to go nuts...

[Bullschmidt]

And an Access database is just one file so it is very conveniently portable (FTP to the site and back down and/or even e-mail the database to someone)...

[knine82]

Thank you guys, just wanna ask, what are the security concerns? Do you mean that access can be easily hacked into?

[Bullschmidt]

Well one usually keeps the Access database in a folder outside the www area such as in a folder called Data. So users couldn't download the database even if they knew the URL because there would be no URL if the database is outside the www folder and its subfolders...

[chazzy]

Access database's are typically the least secure out there. They require ODBC connectors to get in, which can be sniffed really easily.