Re: Creating really BIG DB
I recently completed a project that is somewhat similar to what you are describing. I have found that if you will be limiting your queries to relatively small time frames (such as a span of a few months or years) it is better to divide the database into numerous tables segregated by time. This will reduce your search time dramatically.
If, however, you need to search the entire database routinely, you will have better results if all of the data is contained in a single table. The overhead involved for VB to create and destroy references to individual tables will become dominant in this case.
Bottom line, you will need to determine how this data will be used, ultimately, and tailor the number of tables accordingly.
Good Luck...
Re: Creating really BIG DB
Perhaps doing a research for solutions other than Access (SQL Server, Oracle, etc...) might help more.
Re: Creating really BIG DB
Access? 10 Million Entries? If it has to be Access keep in mind that a database of one Gigabyte is the largest allowed (Yes, I have created larger but the largest supported is 1GB and there are corruption/performance issues). Actually any Access database will begin to have performance problems once it reaches about 400 Megabytes. If you must use Access you may have to break your data into separate tables each in a separate mdb file with a controlling Access database that links to the mdb's containting the data.
Hope this helps.