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SYBASE ODBC DRIVER

The Most Reliable, Best Performing Sybase ODBC Driver

Wire Protocol vs. Classic Architecture Sybase ODBC Driver
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The Progress DataDirect Connect for ODBC driver delivers the best Sybase ODBC connectivity, ensuring high-end performance and scalability for applications connecting to Sybase. One Sybase Platinum ODBC driver simultaneously supports Sybase versions 11, 12 and through 15.5. DataDirect's Sybase ODBC driver is available for UNIX and Linux platforms as well as Windows and for 64 bit ODBC connectivity.

Try it now – Download Sybase ODBC Driver.

DataDirect's unique wire protocol Sybase ODBC driver eliminates the need for Sybase Open Client libraries to connect to the database. This translates into better response time, throughput, and scalability and reduces the cost of deploying and maintaining applications.




Improves the performance and scalability of your applications The DataDirect Connect ODBC driver for Sybase is proven to out-perform competitive drivers, demonstrating marked improvement in response time, throughput, and scalability of your applications that connect to Sybase. The wire protocol architecture of the Sybase ODBC driver, as well as easy-to-use tuning options, optimizes the rate and efficiency of data transfer. In addition, a high-performance Bulk Load capability enables large amounts of data to be loaded very quickly.
Reduces the cost and time of deploying and maintaining applications DataDirect's wire protocol Sybase ODBC driver doesn’t require Sybase Open Client libraries to connect to the database. This greatly simplifies deployment and eliminates the headache of installing, configuring, and maintaining database software on each client machine.
Provides comprehensive coverage from one vendor DataDirect offers a Sybase ODBC driver on every major platform – Windows (including v7), Linux and UNIX. We also offer a 64 bit ODBC wire protocol driver for Sybase so your 64 bit applications can take full advantage of faster processing speeds.
Makes it easy and cost effective to support multiple databases / database versions One DataDirect Sybase ODBC driver can simultaneously connect to different Sybase versions (11, 12 and through 15.5). You can deploy multiple applications to a single platform and seamlessly connect with different versions of Sybase, which reduces deployment and testing costs. A common architecture across drivers and interoperability features such as SQL up-leveling simplify the task of supporting other databases in addition to Sybase, such as Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, MySQL and more.
Ensures high availability DataDirect Sybase ODBC drivers completely manage application failover and balancing of work load without requiring changes to application code or costly server configurations.
Reinforces your security strategy DataDirect Sybase ODBC drivers include advanced, industry standard security mechanisms such as SSL data encryption and operating system authentication via Kerberos.
Guarantees quality and reliability DataDirect Sybase ODBC drivers are quality tested and certified with a wide variety of applications and environments and are proven in hundreds of leading commercial software products and thousands of the most demanding corporate environments.
Reduces total cost of ownership through superior technical support In contrast to database vendors and other third-party vendors, DataDirect award-winning support is focused exclusively on data connectivity and includes 24x7 phone, web, email, forum, and an extensive knowledgebase. Resolving data connectivity issues quickly reduces the total cost of ownership of software.

 

DataDirect features are 100% driver implemented, allowing you to leverage them quickly, without changes to application code or proprietary Sybase extensions.

Performance

  • Wire protocol architecture – doesn’t require Sybase Open Client libraries
  • Easy-to-use tuning options and automatic driver tuning via Performance Wizard
  • Bulk Load
  • Load balancing
  • Built-in debugging capabilities
  • Enterprise-quality driver logging
  • Advanced Connection Pooling
  • Statement pooling
  • Data conversion
  • Socket management
  • Network wire management
  • Batching and throughput optimization

Comprehensive Database / Platform Coverage

  • One driver supports simultaneous connections to Sybase versions 11, 12, and through 15.5)
  • Supports Windows, Linux and UNIX platforms, including UNIX platforms such as IBM AIX, HP-UX, and Sun Solaris across a wide range of processor architectures
  • 64 bit ODBC driver for Sybase available

Security

  • Operating system authentication (aka Single Sign-On) via Kerberos
  • SSL data encryption

Enterprise Applications

  • Application failover
  • Windows ODBC Driver Manager for Unix/Linux
  • Unicode and ANSI character sets
  • Stored procedures

Interoperability

  • Interoperability, including SQL up-leveling, which simplifies the task of supporting other databases in addition to Sybase, such as Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, MySQL, and more
  • Common architecture across drivers makes it easy to support different databases

Quality and Reliability

  • Quality tested and certified with the DataDirect ODBC Verification Suite (OVS), the largest, most mature ODBC testing infrastructure
  • 100% ODBC specification compliance – leverage Sybase functionality without proprietary extensions or code

Additional Sybase ODBC Driver Functionality

  • Scalar and catalog functions
  • Parameter arrays
  • BLOBs/CLOBs
  • Stored procedures
  • Data type conversions

 

Advantages of DataDirect Driver

Limitations of Sybase Driver

Best ODBC driver performance DataDirect drivers outperform competitive drivers in throughput, CPU efficiency, and memory usage, resulting in faster response times and better scalability.

Delivers consistent high performance, particularly where database queries return many rows of large results.

In addition, you can easily tune the driver through connection options, ensuring the best possible performance for any application scenario.

Sybase isn't focused on data connectivity software. As a result, the Sybase ASE ODBC driver introduces performance bottlenecks in these key areas:

  • Bulk inserts
  • Single row, OLTP-type operations
  • Batch updates
  • Parameterized operations

One driver supports multiple Sybase versions
A single DataDirect ODBC driver can simultaneously connect to different Sybase versions (11, 12, and through 15.5).

You can deploy multiple applications to a single platform and seamlessly connect with different versions of Sybase, reducing deployment and testing costs.

The Sybase ASE ODBC driver doesn't offer support for Sybase versions prior to 12.5x.

Robust API and feature support
Fully functional ODBC applications use a wide variety of ODBC API function calls and features, and DataDirect’s Sybase ODBC driver has been engineered over many years to support them all.

In fact, DataDirect’s ODBC driver for Sybase was licensed by Sybase and shipped as the Sybase 11 and Sybase 12 ODBC drivers. To ensure your applications run smoothly when connecting to Sybase 15, simply license the proven, reliable ODBC driver from DataDirect.

After July 31, 2007, Sybase dropped support for their Sybase 11 and Sybase 12 ODBC drivers. They will no longer address technical issues of any kind with these drivers. Sybase wants customers to migrate to a new ODBC driver with a completely re-built code base versus using the same reliable driver that has always been supported by DataDirect.

Customers who migrate to Sybase’s new ODBC driver will find that it offers no support or limited support for important ODBC API and application features. Learn more.

UNIX / Linux support
You can deploy one single driver for all major UNIX and Linux platforms, including IBM AIX, HP-UX, and Sun Solaris, and associated chipsets.

DataDirect drivers come with the DataDirect ODBC Driver Manager, the most widely used ODBC driver manager for UNIX and Linux platforms.

The Sybase ASE ODBC driver isn't available for UNIX platforms.

The Sybase ASE ODBC driver requires a separate set of steps to download, install, and configure an ODBC driver manager to use the driver on the Linux platform.

Complete, reliable handling of data and data types
This is the best indicator of a driver's quality, as returning inaccurate or corrupted data to an application is worse than returning no data at all. Thousands of customers depend on our drivers when the ability to accurately handle critical data is key.

Sybase's ODBC driver doesn't support ODBC 3.x data types and has significant problems when handling NULLs and TEXT, LOB, and Unicode data.

Application failover and load balancing
The driver completely manages failover and balancing of work load without requiring changes to application code.

Support for application failover and load balancing requires either licensing expensive data replication or failover management add-ons for Sybase. In addition, the implementation of these application failover and load balancing features for Sybase are proprietary and therefore behave different from every database’s own proprietary implementation. Sybase's proprietary failover support also requires a separate license for the Sybase High Availability (HA) Option for ASE.

Bulk Load
Includes a high-performance bulk load capability for loading large amounts of data into Sybase ASE the fastest way possible. Existing applications can take advantage of this feature without the need for code changes, Sybase CTLib client libraries, or BCP, Sybase's bulk load tool.

Requires the deployment of BCP, Sybase's bulk load tool, which offers limited platform availability and is slower than DataDirect Bulk Load. In addition, proprietary application code changes and data input formats are required to invoke this command-line tool.

Reliability for demanding production environments
Quality tested and certified with a wide variety of applications and environments using the DataDirect ODBC Verification Suite (OVS), the largest, most mature ODBC testing infrastructure.

For critical applications that require reliability above all else, no drivers are more rigorously tested or more widely deployed than DataDirect's.

Sybase’s testing infrastructure for data connectivity is unknown. Known quality issues with the Sybase ASE ODBC driver include:

  • Application crashes during direct SQL execution and catalog function calls
  • Dropped connections while executing stored procedures

Operating System Authentication via Kerberos
Our drivers include industry-standard operating system authentication via Kerberos, allowing you to include database access in a Single Sign-On environment.

Sybase drivers don't support operating system authentication via Kerberos.

Full support for SQL-92 Standard
Our driver fully supports any SQL statement that complies with the SQL-92 standard.

Lacks full compliance with the SQL-92 standard – in some cases the driver does not return any results for SQL statements containing JOIN or GROUP BY clauses.

Complete interoperability between databases
SQL up-leveling and other interoperability features reduce the total cost of development, testing, and deployment for environments where applications must access data from more than just Sybase.

Companies looking to access more than one database will incur greater development efforts. Sybase steers customers to use Sybase ASE as their database and does not provide advantages to assist with cross-database functionality.

Comprehensive technical support Focused on database connectivity, our award-winning support includes 24x7 phone, web, email, forum, and an extensive knowledgebase.

Superior technical support is essential to resolve data connectivity issues quickly, thereby reducing the total cost of ownership of software.

Because Sybase is not focused primarily on data connectivity, troubleshooting will be more difficult and can take longer.

 

THE INDUSTRY STANDARD FOR ODBC DRIVERS

Progress® DataDirect Connect®, Connect XE® and Connect64® for ODBC are the fastest, most comprehensive suite of ODBC drivers for all major databases— Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, DB2, Salesforce.com, Sybase, Sybase IQ, database. com, force.com, and Progress® OpenEdge® 11 MT. Our unique “wire protocol” design eliminates the need for database client libraries, which greatly simplifies installation and administration and dramatically improves performance. In fact, these clientless drivers even outperform applications that use the database’s native (proprietary) API for database access. Progress DataDirect ODBC drivers are the industry standard for ODBC drivers, providing the advanced functionality, performance, and reliability developers need to quickly deliver high-quality, database-independent applications.

MOST COMPREHENSIVE SUITE OF ODBC DRIVERS FROM ONE VENDOR

You can count on Progress Software for reliable ODBC connectivity regardless of database or platform. Progress DataDirect ODBC drivers support all major databases, on every major platform, across a wide range of processor architectures.

In addition, a single driver supports multiple simultaneous connections to all supported versions of each database. This broadens the versions of databases you can support in a commercial product and eliminates the need to change drivers every time you change database versions in an enterprise environment.

  • Supports all major databases— Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, DB2, Salesforce.com, Sybase, Greenplum, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Informix, Apache Hive and more.
  • Supports all major platforms—Windows, UNIX, Linux, and more
  • Full 32-bit (Connect for ODBC) and 64-bit (Connect64 for ODBC) ODBC application support
  • Each single-tier driver supports multiple database versions:
    • Microsoft SQL Server 7, 2000, 2005, 2008, and 2012
    • Windows Azure SQL Database
    • Oracle (8i, 9i, 10g, and 11g)
    • Multiple versions of DB2 running on Windows, UNIX, Linux, z/OS (OS/390), and iSeries (AS/400)
    • Sybase 11.x, 12.x, 12.5.x, 15, and Sybase IQ 2 www.

HIGH-PERFORMANCE WIRE PROTOCOL DESIGN

Progress DataDirect ODBC drivers are available as “wire protocol,” meaning that the drivers do not require installation and maintenance of database client software and libraries. This unique wire protocol architecture dramatically improves performance and eliminates the need to install and keep up with the various versions of database client libraries such as Oracle Net (formerly Net8 and SQL*Net) and DB2 Connect for IBM DB2. Other benefits include:

  • Simplified installation, configuration, and administration of applications
  • Fastest available application data access performance—even faster than using the database’s native interface (such as Oracle OCI)
  • Elimination of the need to test and certify against multiple versions of the database client libraries

PROVEN, RELIABLE DRIVERS OFFER BEST-IN-CLASS FUNCTIONALITY

Progress DataDirect ODBC drivers are the most widely used third-party ODBC drivers on the market and are tested under production conditions using the most comprehensive ODBC testing facility in the industry. Progress DataDirect consistently supports the latest, most complete implementation of the ODBC specification and the latest database versions and features, and offers enterprise functionality across all databases such as:

  • No database client libraries required through unique wire protocol architecture
  • Multiple performance tuning options and a Performance Tuning Wizard to achieve optimal driver performance for any application scenario
  • Performance-oriented features such as connection pooling, statement pooling, data conversion, network wire management, and batching and throughput optimization
  • 100% driver-implemented application failover and client-side load balancing, which do not require application code changes or expensive clustering software, such as Oracle RAC
  • Robust security features such as Kerberos-based operating system (OS) authentication for Single Sign-on (SSL) and SSL-based data encryption over the network
  • 100% driver-implemented, high-performance Bulk Load feature which does not require application code changes or database vendor bulk load tools
  • Advanced connection pooling which does not require application code changes to enable or configure
  • The industry’s best ODBC Driver Manager for UNIX/Linux
  • Standards-based implementations of the latest database features and functionality
  • Complete, consistent Unicode support across all platforms
  • Built-in debugging capabilities
  • Certified for leading virtualized environments

To learn more or download a free, 15 day trial of Progress® DataDirect Connect® or Connect64® for ODBC, go to www.progress.com/datadirect