Database decision

[LuckyLuke]

Hi,

I am developing a database application for a company which has to store private information about their clients. The budget is low and I need to decide which type of database to use. I have been looking at using a MS Access database and a FoxPro database. I was wondering which one would be the best choice (or another if you have a better alternative). The program will be running on a network (only a few computers), and it will be accessing one database on one computer in the network. Encryption of the data is important (a feature I couldn't yet find in a FoxPro database) and also it would be nice if you can login at the database with multiple users. So far MS Access seems to have more of the things I want available, however I think there might be more alternatives. I've also looked at a DBMS, but that is more expensive. I was wondering if the advantages of using a DBMS are big enough to decide choosing that instead of Access or FoxPro.

Thanks for your time and help,

Luuk

 

[LuckyLuke]

What I forgot to ask:
- is the Access Encryption actually safe?
- same thing for Access password and user login etc.

 

[palbano]

>> Encryption of the data is important
>> is the Access Encryption actually safe?
>> same thing for Access password and user login etc.

Your use of the "Encryption" is ambiguous. We need much more specific requirements to have any hope of answering your questions.

Are you concerned that if someone obtains a copy of the access file they can decrypt the data stored inside, that they can "crack" a login password to gain entry to the database?

-pete

 

[LuckyLuke]

I am concerned that anything in the database, from password to plain text entered in the fields in the database can be retrieved. Everything has to be secure.

The data being stored is personal and it is nessecary that this data cannot be viewed by anyone who is not authorized to see it. The reason I'm asking this is because I've seen the layout of the FoxPro files, and that is totally unacceptable. If you open it in notepad, you can easily extract most data from the file. About Access, I've read that the encryption option from Access is just to prevent users who don't have Access installed from reading the file. If you do have Access installed, it doesn't matter if the file is encrypted or not (which does make sense, how else can Access read the file).

I'll sum the requirements up again for the database I'm looking at:
- The contents of the entire database have to be secure, noone who is authorized should be able to view the data, no matter what computer they are working on
- It has to be running at a network (not a requirement for the database, but DBMS's for instance would make this a bit easier)
- Budget is low
- Logins for multiple users (with different access rights) would be nice too, but this also is not really a requirement for the database, but it would ease up things a bit (of course these have to be encrypted really well too)

If you have any remarks or tips or a solution, even to point me on something I missed or just to help me out on this matter, I would greatly appreciate.

 

[apatterno]

Generally what you do is run a database that can only be accessed by a certain user from the local machine, then build another service that handles requests from the network, verifying them to make sure they don't ask for sensitive information, and then forwarding them to the database server.

As far as this goes, any software could be used.

>> Budget is low
MySQL is a full-featured, open source SQL server.

http://www.mysql.com/

Enjoy

 

[LuckyLuke]

Yes I've looked at MySQL, but also for MySQL you have to buy a license if you will redistribute it with the application. In that case I could also go for a DBMS such as Oracle instead.