Web sites are powered by databases, and those databases need to be hosted somewhere online near the web servers. Here's some links to help you get started with not just SQL Server hosting, but Access database hosting as well. When you outgrow Access, you can stay here at SQLServerPedia to learn how to upgrade your databases to SQL Server.

SQL Server Database Hosting for Training

Transactions are one of the things that keep your data safe, but they're not necessarily easy to understand. Here's some help:

• Free SQL Server hosted trial - the Professional Association for SQL Server partnered up with Microsoft, Dell and MaximumASP to let users try their own virtual SQL Server for free. You're an admin on the box, and you get SSIS, SSRS and SSAS too. It's a great setup for learning how to use SQL Server.

Accessing Free Online Database Hosting

When your database file lives on a server on the internet, it can be frustrating to try to query data directly. If you copy the MDB file to your local hard drive, you can query the data with Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio:

• Using Rowset Functions to Query Microsoft Access Databases - how you can query Access tables and flat files using Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.

When You Outgrow Access Database Hosting

• Using Linked Servers to Query Access Databases in SQL Server - explains how to copy Access tables to SQL Server, or if you need to query Access in SQL Server Management Studio. These are useful when you're running into the Access file size limits and or if you need to merge several Access databases together into SQL Server.

SQLServerPedia Blog Entries About Access and Database Hosting

These blog entries point out short tips or helpful resources on other web sites:

• Synchronize Data between Access and SQL Server - Ari Weil talks about using a distributed query to keep your databases in synch.
• Linking a SQL Server Database to MS Access Using Linked Tables - Bryan Oliver of Quest explains how to create the database, set up an ODBC file DSN, and configure your tables. This lets you use Access 2007 (or earlier versions) to edit a SQL Server table.