DataDirect ODBC Drivers 5.3 – For Crystal Reports 2008

The unique wire protocol design of DataDirect’s ODBC driver directly connects directly to the database via TCP/IP and thus eliminates the need for database client software and libraries, which greatly simplifies installation and administration and dramatically improves performance.  Wire protocol architecture is what allows DataDirect ODBC drivers to deliver the fastest, most scalable and secure application connections to relational databases.

Benefits of Using an ODBC Wire Protocol Driver

Simpler Deployment and Maintenance

Companies deploying applications that use DataDirect wire protocol drivers will find them much easier to implement. DataDirect wire protocol ODBC drivers contain all the software needed to access the database, eliminating the prerequisite of having the client libraries loaded and configured on every computer prior to using the ODBC driver. If an application needs to access three databases that each has their own native API, the benefit is even more obvious. Using wire protocol ODBC drivers reduces the complexity of deploying ODBC applications by one half, compared to the traditional 2-step ODBC drivers that leverage “classic” ODBC architecture.

Smaller Footprint

Using wire protocol drivers also results in a smaller footprint for the application. The larger footprint with the traditional ODBC architecture can directly impact the performance and stability of a system or network. This is especially true where multiple versions of a database or multiple database technologies need to be accessed. Because different client libraries are required to be installed for each version or database technology, each one consumes memory and CPU time. In addition, DLL conflicts are common. This leads to increased support activities and complex upgrades.By contrast, only one wire protocol ODBC driver per database brand is required. This dramatically reduces overhead on support and upgrades, and DLL conflicts are virtually eliminated because all of the drivers are from the same vendor.

Dramatically Increased Performance

Because wire protocol drivers eliminate a layer of translation between the application and the DBMS, the rate of data access speed is increased so much that independent tests have proven that wire protocol drivers actually outperform applications coded natively. How is this possible? Not only do these new drivers remove a communication layer, they can control which calls are made to the DBMS, and these calls can be optimized to just those required for accessing data.

Failover Support

Connection failover and connection retry are two useful features that are available in the following DataDirect Connect® for ODBC drivers: DB2 Wire Protocol, Informix Wire Protocol, Oracle Wire Protocol, Oracle, SQL Server Wire Protocol (UNIX only), and Sybase Wire Protocol. Connection failover allows an application to connect to an alternate, or backup, database server if the primary database server is unavailable, ensuring that the data on which your critical ODBC applications depend is always available. Connection retry can be an important strategy for system recovery after a power failure. If connection retry is enabled, the client application can continue to retry the connection until a connection is successfully accepted by the server.

The DataDirect ODBC Drivers 5.3 are only supported and functional with Crystal Reports 2008 or Crystal Reports hosted in BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0, Crystal Reports Server 2008. These drivers are available at no additional charge to customers licensed with the previously mentioned products. The 5.3 install available to you includes:

* DB2 Wire Protocol driver

* Microsoft SQL Server Wire Protocol driver

* Oracle driver (only for Windows, requires database client)

* Oracle Wire Protocol driver

* Sybase Wire Protocol driver

* Informix driver (only for Windows, requires database client)

* Informix Wire Protocol driver

* XML driver (only for Windows)

* Text driver

The DataDirect drivers are currently available for: Windows, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX and Linux.

For Crystal Reports and Crystal Reports Server customers, you can download the drivers directly from SDN: http://service.sap.com/sap/bc/bsp/spn/bobj_download/main.htm

For BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.0 customers, you can download the drivers from the SAP Service Marketplace: https://service.sap.com/bosap-supportsw