MS Access is a Microsoft-based relational database management software. It is a part of the suite of applications provided by Microsoft Office. It stores data in its own format.
Since the onset of computers in the early 1950s, businesses have wanted to use computers to store and manage their stored data when required. This led to the generation of databases. But the problem with the early databases was all the data was stored in file format, and it was very difficult to find and relate 2 data sets as and when required. This gave rise to the concept of RELATIONAL DATABASE (RDBMS).
RDBMS, since its discovery, was implemented by many tech giants like IBM, ORACLE, etc. So, the same amount of research work was going on in Microsoft in the 1980s, and after a lot of planning and prior testing, Microsoft launched MS Access on 13th November 1992. Like most RDBMS software, it allows users to get the maximum benefit from their data by allowing some incredibly easy-to-perform tasks like sorting, comparing, basic operations like searching and replacing, and much more.
Microsoft developed a database engine called Microsoft jet database engine, which helped to store the data at the backend. MS Access, since then, is undoubtedly one of the best RDBMS software that is available in the market today. It has objects which will help you to perform operations and store data. It has a lot of advantages, especially in handling complex queries. As a software, MS access follows split database architecture, which means whatever data we are storing in the tables are stored in the backend in one file, and all other things, which includes the forms, queries, reports, etc., are stored in the other file, which helps to ease data fetching and smooth operations on to them.
In terms of security and data privacy, MS access is something that a user can trust blindly. It offers data protection by using passwords and prevents any unauthorized access to the database. Also, you can lock your data and limit the accessibility of who can view a particular section of the data. This has been of great help to most users as someone won’t wish to reveal some sensitive information to anyone who wishes to view it.
As an overall analysis, we can say that it is one of the best possible options available for all medium and small enterprise-level users who wish to get such a service at a very affordable price segment.
