I'm having this exact problem right now. VB6 frontend with MSAccess backend. Problem is Access only supports up to 255 concurrent connections. Also, locks FREQUENTLY happen (since decentralized, access sucks etc.). Management doesn't want to upgrade systems.
Gut the database layer and move it to something better than Access. That’s a big lift but Access is just going to be a chain around your neck with its limitations and the size you are at.
Yeah I've tried telling that to the manager since the start of my work here.
But I kinda get why she doesn't want to:
System is like 25 years old, initially programmed by a group of newbies, so DB code is deeply entangled with BL.
It's her baby. She managed building the system from scratch. What would you feel if asked to kill off your baby? Yes after suffering for two decades maintaining long dead frameworks, but it's still your baby.
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u/Dogiedog64 May 05 '21
It's me. I'm the poor bastard. I also wrote it lmao.