MS Access has all tiers in one application. Data is stored in tables but unlike
MS Excel, the data can be indexed & related to other tables. Business rules are coded in
VBA behind Forms that act as the user interface (UIF). Reporting is handled by a powerful
Report module within Access. Normally the data is kept in a separate backend MDB & the
UIF, business rules & reporting are done in what's referred to as the front end MDB.
Instead of an MS Access MDB, I prefer a SQL Server database container for the back end.
Both SQL Server 2000 or 2005 are robust database servers. I like ODBC connectivity
because all my MS Access skills are fully compatible with ODBC linked SQL Server tables
with just a few exceptions.