When to First Archive Your LIMS Database

A new user asked this question:

“I have briefly gone over the document for archiving, but I want to get some clarification on [installing LIMS Archiving]. Does it need to be set up prior to actual use of the LIMS? Or once we need to begin archiving?”

You can install and begin using LIMS 4.x Archiving at any time. However, it would likely be years before you would have the need. The main reason to archive, which moves older samples from the production to archive database, is to improve performance with a large Access database.

You should use the ‘Compact LimsData’ option on the Admin menu to compact your database weekly if you can or at least monthly. Even though your database will not reduce in size very much when compacting, the compacting process rewrites the database tables in primary key order, recreates all indexes, and updates database statistics, all of which can improve performance.

After you compact your database, take a look at its size. The name and location of your database is listed on the lower left of the main menu in the LIMS. There is no need to worry about archiving until your database exceeds about 150 MB.