Summary: An Access database stores the data and objects (like forms, reports, etc.) in a single file. Sometimes, problems arise when multiple users access a database simultaneously. You can overcome any problem by splitting the database file into two separate files. Read this blog to know about the advantages of splitting an Access database with multiple users and the steps to split the database.
Simultaneous use of the Access database by multiple users over a network can slow down the performance and increase the risk of database corruption. However, splitting a database into two files – back-end database and a front-end database, can help improve performance and reduce the likelihood of corruption.
The back-end database contains tables, while all the other objects like forms, queries, reports, etc., are stored in a front-end database. Thus, each user gets a separate front-end copy of the database and sends or receives data from the linked back-end database. Let’s discuss in detail about the benefits of splitting the Microsoft Access database.
You can split Access database by using Access built-in ‘Database Splitter wizard’.But before you proceed, make sure to keep the following into consideration:
Note: You should use ‘_be’ suffix in the back-end database name as suggested by Access. This preserves the original database name as the front-end and the _be suffix helps identify the back-end database.
The database is split. The file you have selected is the front-end database and the back-end database is stored at the specified location.
Splitting an Access database, shared by multiple users over a network, offers several benefits, such as increased performance, data availability, flexibility, etc. Most importantly, it helps reduce the risk of database corruption. But, if corruption still happens and you need to restore your database without data loss, using an Access database repair tool, like Stellar Repair for Access can come in handy.
The database repair tool helps fix the corrupted .MDB/.ACCDB files and recover all the objects, like tables, deleted records, forms, reports, queries, etc.
Here’s a video that explains how to repair a split Access database using Stellar Repair for Access.
Charanjeet is a Technical Content Writer at Stellar®who specializes in writing about databases, e-mail recovery, and e-mail migration solutions. She loves researching and developing content that helps database administrators, organizations and novices to fix multiple problems related to MS SQL and MySQL databases and Microsoft Exchange.
