Saving large amounts of data reliably

[kasracer]

I am developing an application and it's going to need to hold a large amount of data (mostly e-mail) and I need to know what the best way and most reliable way to store all of the data is.

I assume this should go in a database. The thing is, the database would have to be local (no servers or anything). I know I can use an Access database, however; I don't know how or if you can even create those in C# (meaning, it would have to be already supplied). Should I use an Access database or is there a database that can be created and manipulated in just C# code (kind of like an array)? What would you recommend?

[Jost Lindemann]

Hi kasracer,

if you prefer a database, what do you think about the MSDE (Microsoft Desktop Engine). You can download it for free from Microsoft.com.

Its a very "small" SQL-Server but can be queried and modified (databases, tables etc) using C#'s sqlDataAdapter etc.

Regards
Jost

[jhammer]

I agree with Jost Lindmann on MSDE.
If you still prefer MS-Access (it has some advantages), you should use System.Data.OleDb namespace objects.

[torrud]

I you are looking for high performance you could have a look at object oriented databases like db4objects (http://www.db4objects.com/default.aspx). It is fast and high embeddable. But it is not free for commercial usage.

[kasracer]

Thanks for the replies.

I have looked at some of the different databases. Unfortunately Access has a limit of 2GB, MSDE has a limit of 4GB, and the FAT32 file system (which my applicaiton may be installed onto) has a limit of 4GB per file.

My application, at first, won't require much of any space. However; it's possible for it to grow well beyond 4GB AND it has to be searchable.

The data is also specific to each user so it's not something that I can use a server for.

I really have no idea where to go on this. Money is also an issue so I could not pay for a database.

I was thinking of somehow making my own but It's going to be extremely difficult to make something scalable to just about anything AND make it searchable while taking up little memory.