Should you archive records?

[mkaeser]

Hello all,

Is there any benefit to archiving records using the append/delete method? I have found plenty information on how to do it, but no real benefit other than if your table is in the 100,000+ record range (per Allen Browne). I need to import calendars from google, and there are appointments from 2011 that we need to keep (just in case ).

 

[plog]

The only benefit I have ever experienced is file size. The only reason I ever implemented this was to get around the 2 gig limit.

 

[mkaeser]

That is really the only pro I have come across, guess there isn't much point to worry about it now. Thanks!

 

[The_Doc_Man]

IF you have the misfortune to have your back-end database on a slow network drive, you archive to keep your users from growing moss or gathering spider webs while they sit down to wait for their data to arrive. The archiving step reduces the amount of data to be moved. Otherwise, ... probably not worth it.

 

[KenHigg]

It is simple enough to move old data to an archive file/mdb. I try to make it a point to never throw out data the business has gone to the trouble to collect. Think of it as their potential intellectual business advantage. If you throw it out and they do somehow need it down the road, you could be the goat. However, if you save it for them you could be their hero - 

 

[gemma-the-husky]

if you need to search data via non-indexed fields, then the larger the table, the longer the search.

So you may find empirically that reducing the size of the datatables might assist performance.