Which DB Server should I use?

Things like SQL Server Express , MySQL and PostgreSQL are available for free, no license purchase required.

To improve search speed, you probably also want to look at things like what indexes are defined on the table, what exactly does the search do, etc.

You can replace the Access database with a SQL Server database that will scale well. You can use SQL Server Express , which is free and supports databases up to 4GB that I can use.

SQL Server Express . Free for database sizes up to 10 GB.

I highly recommend MySQL. Its sometimes free and easy to install on both Windows and Linux.

There are also many free, free tools to manage your content like tables, users, indexes, etc.

SQL Server Express is perfect for this. http://www.microsoft.com/express/database/

You can take a look at Firebird

Firebird is one of the best databases for desktop applications and will always be free.

Several tools exist to convert database from firebird access.

I would see if it is necessary to split a large table into smaller ones (rarely needed, but still), as well as what indexes on it. And for database software, I would recommend PostgreSQL. It's free, easy to use (and I find it easy to set up, although others ask to differentiate), and it's fast enough for enterprise applications.

I also recommend Firebird .

Its main advantages for your scenario (from above):

• built-in version. You can ship it using your app - no separate installation kit required, no .NET dependencies, etc.

• later you can easily scale to the full client-server model. No code changes are required.

• very small footprint

• the entire database is stored in one file. Much easier to deploy compared to other solutions.

• you can have your server on any platform you want: Windows, Linux, MacOSX, etc. Of course you can have your client on the same platforms as well, but since you mentioned Access, I assume you have a Windows application.

• no need for server administration. It just works.

I also recommend PostgreSQL (especially as a MySQL alternative)

Nobody ever mentions it, but Oracle also makes a free version of their database: Oracle Express Edition (aka XE). It's limited to 1 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and 4GB of user data, but that sounds big enough for your application.

As far as your database design goes, only one table looks more like a spreadsheet than a database application. You probably have a lot of denormalized data. Dividing them up into smaller deduplicated tables can speed up certain queries significantly. However, if you only have twenty columns, there may not be much room for customization.

As for the recommendation, the question is, what products do you know? If you are familiar with Access, I suggest you optimize your existing database. I've worked with Access databases that store several million rows and they perform reasonably well. After all, there is no guarantee that moving the same design to another product will automatically make things work much faster. Another advantage of Access as a tool is that it comes with a built-in interface. If you are migrating from Access, you might need to consider rebuilding your application.

Wow, people have a lot of recommendations for the platform.

Let me just say this.

If you feel there are design issues as well as platform issues, why not try redesigning first? These are the changes you are most likely to make.

If they don't impact performance in Access, you are as good as these changes improve maintainability on any platform.

You can then try other platforms, knowing that you have a solid design and that you haven't wasted any time.

SQLite could also be a candidate.