SQL Native Client 9.0 OLE DB Provider
This OLE DB Provider is provided by Microsoft.
The main functionality of the provider is contained in the file sqlncli.dll.
Include "Provider=SQLNCLI" in the connection string to use this provider.
Description
SQL Server Native Client version 9 was released with SQL Server 2005.
Although it is possible to connect to SQL Server 2008 with this provider it is not recommended. Instead use the SQL Native Client 10.0 OLE DB provider (SQLNCLI10) for SQL Server 2008.
The SQL Server Native Client OLE DB provider is a low-level COM API that is used for accessing data. The SQL Server Native Client OLE DB provider is recommended for developing tools, utilities, or low-level components that need high performance. The SQL Server Native Client OLE DB provider is a native, high performance provider that accesses the SQL Server Tabular Data Stream (TDS) protocol directly.
Read more about when to use this provider in the article "When to use the SQL Native Client".
SQL Server Native Client provides OLE DB support to applications connecting to versions of SQL Server from SQL Server 2000 and later.
The SQL Server Native Client OLE DB provider is an OLE DB version 2.0–compliant provider.
More info about this provider can be found at the Microsoft product page.
Download
This OLE DB Provider, SQL Native Client 9.0 OLE DB Provider, can be downloaded here.
Connection Strings
The SQL Native Client 9.0 OLE DB Provider provider can be used to connect to the following data sources by using the following connection string references: