Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver

Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver provides ODBC access to SQL Server for ODBC-enabled applications running on Linux and major Unix platforms.

Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver supports SQL Server 7, SQL Server 2000, and SQL Server 2005, and is fully compatible with the unixODBC Driver Manager, which is included in the standard product distribution.

ODBC Access to SQL Server from Unix and Linux

The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver connects Unix and Linux applications to SQL Server databases. Download our SQL Server ODBC driver to connect Perl, PHP, Python, C and any other ODBC-enabled language, interface or application to SQL Server.

Easysoft keep the ODBC-SQL Server Driver current with the latest version of SQL Server.

SQL Server 2005 support:

- MARS The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver supports Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS), enabling your Linux/Unix applications to have more than one pending request per connection, and, in particular to have more than one default result set open per connection. The MARS feature removes the restriction present in earlier versions of SQL Server in which an open default result set blocks the driver from sending requests to the server until the entire result set is consumed.
- XML data type The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver supports the XML data type, a SQL Server 2005 data type that allows ODBC applications to use an XQuery to query the contents of an XML document stored in SQL Server, check that the document conforms to an XML schema, and even modify the contents of the XML document in place.
- Large-value data types The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver supports the varchar(max), nvarchar(max) and varbinary(max) data types. These data types enable SQL Server to store and retrieve large character, Unicode and binary data more efficiently.
- Snapshot transaction isolation levels The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver supports the snapshot isolation level. When reading rows modified by another transaction, snapshot isolation enables a user to retrieve the version of the row that existed when the transaction started.
- SQL Server Express The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver supports SQL Server Express, the free, easy-to-use, lightweight version of SQL Server 2005.

In addition, the Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver provides these features:

- Easy access to SQL Server data The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver installation leads you through the process of creating your first data source and tests the new data source by retrieving some remote SQL Server data.
- Detect available SQL Server instances The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver includes a diagnostic program that uses the SQL Server Browser or SQL Server 2000 listener service to detect and report the SQL Server instances that are visible from your client machine. You can therefore verify that your SQL Server instance is available before configuring your ODBC data source.
- Access SQL Server from Perl, PHP, Python and C Use the Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver with the Perl DBI and DBD::ODBC modules, PHP, PEAR DB, the Python mxODBC interface, C and any other ODBC-enabled programming language or interface.
- Connect Linux/Unix Applications to SQL Server Access SQL Server databases from Apache, ApplixWare, Informatica, OpenOffice.org, StarOffice and any other ODBC-enabled application.
- 32-bit and 64-bit SQL Server driver Both 32bit and 64bit versions of the Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver are available, where appropriate.
- ODBC 3.51 support The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver complies with the ODBC 3.51 specification. The ODBC-SQL Server Driver supports all ODBC 3.51 API calls. The driver also supports applications written using earlier versions of ODBC.
- Unicode support The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver is a Unicode ODBC driver that provides both Unicode and ANSI access to SQL Server databases.
- unixODBC support The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver is compatible with and includes unixODBC, the open source ODBC Driver Manager for non-Windows platforms. The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver installation can automatically install the driver into unixODBC, making the ODBC-SQL Server Driver immediately available to your ODBC applications. The unixODBC project is currently led by Easysoft developer Nick Gorham and we have many years of experience in supporting and testing our drivers with unixODBC.
- Thread-safety The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver is thread-safe and therefore safe to use behind multi-threaded applications.
- ODBC diagnostic logging The Easysoft ODBC-SQL Server Driver lets you generate diagnostic trace logs that help you troubleshoot problems by monitoring the ODBC calls your application makes.

What is new in this release:

• AES, 3DES, DES Encryption: Keep data transmitted between Linux/Unix and SQL Server secure with industry standard encryption.
• Transport Layer Security: The latest and most secure version of SSL.
• SSL Cipher Suites: Enforce security policy with SSL cipher suites.
• FIPS 140-2 Encryption Standards: Connect Linux and Unix to FIPS 140-2 compliant SQL Server instances.
• NTLMv2 Authentication: Protect sensitive, high-value data in your SQL Server database from unauthorised access.
• SQL Server 2008 Ready: Access SQL Server 2008 from Linux and Unix.
• UTF-8 Support: Preserve the integrity of Unicode SQL Server data on Linux and Unix systems.
• MARS Over SSL: The only data access solution that lets Linux/Unix users take advantage of MARS now makes this important SQL Server feature available over an encrypted connection.
• Domain Discovery: Reduce the amount of configuration needed to authorise Linux/Unix to SQL Server connections through Windows authentication.
• Microsoft SQL Server Driver Extensions: Control SQL Server functionality from Linux/Unix with Microsoft's recommended configuration methods.