DataDirect ODBC Drivers for SQL Server
DataDirect Technologies offers the only wire protocol, 32-bit and 64-bit ODBC drivers for SQL Server for every major platform including UNIX, Linux and Windows. Since collaborating with Microsoft on the ODBC 1.0 standard, DataDirect has maintained an active business relationship with Microsoft and has leveraged it to create not only the first, but the most Microsoft-like SQL Server ODBC driver for non-Windows platforms. Whether you are an architect looking to connect a UNIX or Linux application to SQL Server or a developer looking for the best-performing ODBC driver for SQL Server, DataDirect has exactly what you need.
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Both the 32-bit and 64-bit DataDirect ODBC drivers for SQL Server are designed using innovative wire protocol technology. Wire protocol technology is what allows the DataDirect ODBC driver for SQL Server to simultaneously support connections to SQL Server versions 7, 2000, and 2005 through an architecture that does not require installation on the database server. Organizations that use the DataDirect ODBC driver for SQL Server can experience the following benefits with all types of ODBC applications:
- Simplified development
- Reduced deployment costs
- Maximum uptime and runtime performance
To read more about the advantages of choosing DataDirect's ODBC driver for SQL Server, read the materials below and follow the related links for deeper technical information.
DataDirect ODBC driver for SQL Server - Topics:
- Why Choose the DataDirect ODBC Driver for SQL Server?
- Specific Features for SQL Server
- Performance and Scalability
- SQL Server Database Versions Supported
- Application Platforms and Processor Architectures Supported
When you are ready to evaluate DataDirect's ODBC driver for SQL Server with your application, download a driver package or contact us if you would like assistance in evaluating.
Why Choose the DataDirect ODBC Driver for SQL Server?
No need to install components on the database server
Installing, configuring, and maintaining driver components on each database server within an enterprise can be a significant burden for any technical support organization. DataDirect Technologies' ODBC driver for SQL Server uses wire protocol technology, meaning that that it connects to SQL Server through a single-tier architecture where no driver components must be installed on the database server.
IMPORTANCE: Use of DataDirect wire protocol drivers greatly simplifies the process of deploying and maintaining applications. This is possible because the single-tier architecture that wire protocol technology allows lessens the time and cost to install and configure the driver and reduces the ongoing support cost of maintaining applications that need to connect to SQL Server.
Best ODBC driver performance for any production scenario
The DataDirect ODBC driver for SQL Server is optimized to communicate directly and efficiently with SQL Server database using the TDS protocol. By eliminating the requirement to communicate through a server-side driver component, ODBC applications can avoid performance bottlenecks and experience the best performance available anywhere for SQL Server.
IMPORTANCE: Organizations want the fastest possible access to their SQL Server databases. DataDirect's wire protocol ODBC driver for SQL Server communicates directly with SQL Server and can leverage any performance optimizations the server offers.
Quality and Reliability
The ability to consistently perform well in any set of circumstances defines the quality of DataDirect ODBC drivers. All DataDirect ODBC drivers are thoroughly tested to ensure that no matter what application environment and architecture you use, the ODBC drivers will work. DataDirect tests its ODBC drivers using the largest, most mature ODBC testing infrastructure in existence, the DataDirect ODBC Verification Suite (OVS). The OVS runs millions of test cases against each DataDirect ODBC drivers across all major client operating systems, including UNIX and Linux. This rigorous testing process is designed to guarantee that there will be no unpleasant surprises whenever a driver is rolled out into production. In addition, DataDirect has extensive third-party test suites developed by DataDirect Technologies in conjunction with 300+ ISVs that ensure that all DataDirect ODBC drivers are compatible with all major database applications available.
IMPORTANCE: Investing in an ODBC driver that is highly tested and certified with a wide variety of applications available across the industry protects an organization against unnecessary and crippling downtime and increased support and maintenance costs.
Technical Support
DataDirect Technologies' total focus is on data access middleware. In addition to long relationships with each of the major database vendors including Microsoft, DataDirect offers the largest, most robust, worldwide support organization available anywhere by phone, interactive web, email, and fax. DataDirect's knowledgebase is the largest in the industry with thousands of documents on ODBC, applications, and middleware. SupportLink, DataDirect's award-winning support organization, has received a 95% approval rating for 5 years running from its customers and is one of the main reasons why DataDirect data connectivity technology has become the industry standard, relied on by millions of users and 300+ ISVs.
IMPORTANCE: Consider the total cost of ownership in addition to the initial acquisition cost of software. This includes the costs to resolve technical support issues as quickly as possible in addition to the overall costs to your business for application outages and downtime issues in production. Superior technical support is essential to reducing these costs, allowing applications and the businesses that depend on them to be minimally affected by outage issues.
Specific Features for SQL Server
DataDirect was the vendor selected by Microsoft to port the Microsoft ODBC driver for SQL Server to non-Windows platforms. Since that time, DataDirect has developed its own ODBC 32-bit and 64-bit ODBC drivers for SQL Server that offer the best technical feature set of any ODBC driver available for SQL Server. Organizations that need the best ODBC connectivity to SQL Server from UNIX and Linux can look no further than DataDirect.
For further technical reading on specific topics, review the following links:
Connection Failover and Client-Side Load Balancing
The DataDirect ODBC driver for SQL Server provides Connection Failover and client-side Load Balancing features on UNIX and Linux. These features utilize a 100% driver-based implementation that does not require any database configuration to support.
IMPORTANCE: Connection Failover allows the driver to try to connect to alternate servers when the primary server connection is unavailable. Load Balancing means that these connection attempts will be random, thereby not overloading the primary server. These features ensure that access to your critical data will not be impeded by the failure of a particular server.
SQL Server Named Instances Support
The DataDirect ODBC driver for SQL Server supports connecting to SQL Server database using two methods, IP address and port number, and SQL Server Named Instances. Use of Named Instances allows applications to specify a particular installation of SQL Server where more than 1 is running on a single platform.
IMPORTANCE: Organizations that run more than one installation of SQL Server on a single platform will find support for Named Instances in their ODBC driver crucial. Alternative approaches to specifying a particular installation of SQL Server running on a given platform are much more complicated to set up and difficult to determine.
Interoperability
The DataDirect ODBC driver for Sybase enables applications to access different relational databases with fewer lines of code and less maintenance, ensuring consistent functionality and behavior regardless of the database.
DataDirect's ODBC driver for Sybase includes interoperability features such as a common code base across all DataDirect ODBC drivers; standard escape syntax for stored procedures, outer joins, scalar functions, and date, time and timestamps. Additional functionality includes standardized connection failover and database load balancing.
IMPORTANCE: Almost every organization has multiple databases that applications may have to access. Use of DataDirect's ODBC driver for SQL Server allows developers to create application code that is independent of feature implementation proprietary to Microsoft SQL Server.
Unicode Support
The DataDirect ODBC driver for SQL Server fully supports multiple Unicode encodings and most non-English character sets in applications across all operating system platforms. In addition, the driver also supports all database encodings available for the SQL Server database.
IMPORTANCE: Support for Unicode is critical to the needs of multi-national organizations that require the use of international character sets from a single application. Support for the all database encodings available for SQL Server ensures that no matter what kind of application you use, data integrity is assured with DataDirect's ODBC driver for SQL Server.
IPv6 Support
The pool of IPv4 Internet addresses is shrinking rapidly. IPv6 (Internet protocol version 6) opens up a large number of additional Internet addresses and is supported by the latest version of all major databases. The U.S. government has mandated that federal agencies use IPv6 by June 2008. IPv6 is supported by DataDirect SQL Server wire protocol drivers.
Additional SQL Server Features
- Support for SQL Server 2005 data types such as: Varbinary(max), Varchar(max), and XML
- Support for SQL Server Unicode data types: Nchar, Nvarchar, Ntext, and Nvarchar(max)
- Support for the SQL Server 2005 transaction isolation levels: Snapshot, Read Committed with Snapshots, and Read Committed with Locks
- Supports the ability to execute a single SQL statement using multiple rows of values
Performance and Scalability
Best ODBC performance for any production scenario
DataDirect Technologies' ODBC driver for SQL Server is optimized to communicate directly and efficiently with SQL Server using the TDS wire protocol. Users can expect the best performance from DataDirect's ODBC driver for SQL Server in both single-thread (single user) and multi-threaded (multiple user) situations because of its single-tier, wire protocol architecture.
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IMPORTANCE: Organizations want the fastest possible access to SQL Server and should expect consistent performance as additional applications or application users are added. DataDirect's wire protocol ODBC driver for SQL Server communicates directly with the SQL Server database and can therefore leverage any performance optimizations available from the database server.
SQL Server Database Versions Supported
A single DataDirect ODBC driver for SQL Server can simultaneously handle multiple connections to different SQL Server database versions. The database versions supported by the DataDirect ODBC driver for SQL Server include:
- Microsoft SQL Server 7, 2000, and 2005 (all Editions)
DataDirect is the only vendor that provides a 32-bit and 64-bit single-tier ODBC driver for all of these SQL Server database versions.
IMPORTANCE: Typically there is a mix of different versions of the SQL Server database within an organization that different applications must access. Using the DataDirect ODBC driver for SQL Server allows multiple applications to be deployed to a single platform and simultaneously connect with different versions of SQL Server seamlessly. With this feature, organizations can consolidate critical business applications that need to access different versions of SQL Server onto a single platform thus reducing application deployment and testing costs.
Application Platforms and Processor Architectures Supported
DataDirect offers 32-bit and 64-bit ODBC drivers for SQL Server on every major platform – Linux, UNIX, and Windows – for a wide variety of 32-bit and 64-bit processor architectures including Intel Itanium and AMD / Intel x64. DataDirect's broad platform coverage for ODBC applications seeking to connect with the SQL Server database is matched by no other vendor – including Microsoft.
IMPORTANCE: Organizations can avoid hardware "lock-in" issues by selecting an ODBC driver available on almost any major Linux, UNIX, and Windows platform / chipset combination. ODBC applications that rely on the ODBC driver from Microsoft are limited to applications that run on Windows platforms only.
For the latest information on the client platforms, platform versions, and processor architectures supported by DataDirect's ODBC driver for SQL Server, please see the support matrices at the links below:
32-bit ODBC drivers - Connect for ODBC
64-bit ODBC drivers - Connect64 for ODBC
