Welcome to the forum.
I have not heard of limits in number of cells in a table in Revit, or number of parameters before Revit starts slowing down. Revit slows down more due to .dwg content in the drawing more than anything else. So, I would not worry about number of cells in a schedule or number of parameters.
About the other question, check DbLink. It offers a way to connect to databases. If you don´t like Access, you can connect DbLink to other database drivers.
Alfredo Medina _________________________________________________________________ ______
Licensed Architect (Florida) | Freelance Instructor | Profile on Linkedin