Front End
Often database applications are split into a front end and a back end. The front end contains the bits that the user interacts with: menus, screens and reports. The backend is where the data is stored. The front end is normally stored on each user's computer and the back end is stored on a server machine.
This separation of applications into front and back ends simplifies development and maintenance. For example, the back end could be worked on by data modellers and the front end by interface developers. And when there is a change to one of the screens the front end can be updated without overwriting the data file.
The process of converting a database file into separate front end and back end files is called splitting the database.
Figure 1.0 Splitting a single database file into a front end file and a back end file.
Benefits of a split database
The benefits of a split database include the following:
- Improved performance - the speed of the application is usually faster
- Multiuser - the application can now be turned into a multi-user application where the data is shared across multiple front ends.
- Enhanced security - because the data is now located on a server, it can protected by the server access controls and be automatically backed up as part of the server backups.
- Improved reliability - any front end file corruption can be fixed by just getting another front end file. The back end is also less likely to be corrupted as it is sitting on a server machine.
- Extensibility - because the data is now separated from the front end either could be upsized independently of the other. For example, the data could be moved to SQL Server and the front end could remain a Microsoft Access Database.