Ray,
In a multi-user environment, splitting is a must, in order to avoid frequent
corruptions. I've known cases of monolithic multi-user databases (mine -
before I knew - and others') which went on for months before the first
corruption incident, but even so it is always just a matter of time, and
when it starts it tends to get worse by the day. In other words, the
advantage of splitting boils down to one word: data integrity.
The disadvantages are performance and complexity of maintenace, but thanks
to the good man by the name of Tony Toews (whom you definitely know, if
you've been in these newsgroups a few times) there are good solutions for
both; check out the following links:
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/performancefaq.htm
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/autofe.htm
Browse through the multiuser newsgroup, you are likely to find some
interesting stuff in there.
HTH,
Nikos
