Let me start by saying I have lost touch with programming web apps, having deployed my last app 10 years ago. It was an ASP.NET web app written in Visual Basic, with a Microsoft Access database accessed through an OLEDB connection. It does include the default membership provider for 10 years ago. Now I have Visual Studio 2019 and I want to write a similar web app. It is for a friend who would like to keep expenses down, so I am debating whether I should base it on SQL Server ($10/month extra) vs. a Microsoft Access database (no additional fee). I can't justify SQL Server based on the size and scalability - it will most likely remain a small database. But he does need membership and it seems to me that the *only* membership provider option in VS 2019 requires SQL Server. Add to that I want to learn SQL Server and please give me some advice.
If it's a small database, I would just use Microsoft Access since you can't justify the cost? Personally, though, I would use SQL Server since problems arise with Microsoft Access if the database does grow. You can also use the ASP.NET Membership provider with both SQL Server and Access. I think you have to write your own provider for Access though.
