Problem with max DB size

[sumdumgai]

Hello all. I know there is a max database size of 2GB. Outside of upsizing to SQL server, is there a way to import 9GB of data into Access? Thanks.

 

[sneuberg]

If you can split the data into different tables then you could create different databases and link them into one.

Please tell us about the data and how it's to be used. Maybe some of it could reside in external files or be compressed before the import.

 

[sumdumgai]

Thanks for reply. The data will be a 9GB (after decompression) pipe delimited text file. It will be loaded once per year.

 

[gemma-the-husky]

seriously. If you have 9Gb of data, (properly normalised and compressed) then you are probably a major company. I doubt if you should be using Access for this project.

 

[sumdumgai]

Probably. But Access has been good enough for all our needs to this point, and this is the first time so much data has been made available. I was only asking to see if there was a way to stay with Access, even if it meant multiple linked databases. This data is loaded only once every year.

 

[jdraw]

And once loaded what would you do with the database?

 

[sumdumgai]

Static database against which queries would be used to extract data for reports, either Access or Excel.

 

[gemma-the-husky]

note that if you have multiple databases, with different data tables in each, then you have no way of enforcing relationships between the tables.

If there is a single table (among the 9Gb of data) even approaching 2Gb in size, (say >1.5Gb) then I would be inclined to stop trying with Access and accept you need a different back end.

Note, that I am sure you will also run into trouble if your queries need to extract so much data that they would exceed 2Gb.

 

[sumdumgai]

Thanks. Appreciate the advice. Would SQL Server Express be a good place to start?

 

[Grumm]

Make sure you use a recent version of SQL Server Express.
(2008 or 2012) They support a size of 10 GB per database.

 

[sumdumgai]

I know I'm drifting away from my OP but just one more question, please. I'm new to SQL Server so where is a good place to start my learning and what's a good forum (as good as this one)?