SYBASE ODBC DRIVER

The Most Reliable, Best Performing ODBC Driver for Sybase

The Progress DataDirect Sybase ODBC driver delivers the best performance and scalability for applications connecting to Sybase. One Sybase 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 applications.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW
KEY FEATURES
KEY BENEFITS
COMPETITIVE MATRIX

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.

DataDirect product features are 100% driver implemented, which means they do not require changes to application code or proprietary Sybase extensions in order to be leveraged quickly.

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

Improves the performance and scalability of your applications	DataDirect's 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 ODBC Sybase 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 an ODBC driver for Sybase on every major platform – Windows (including v7), Linux and UNIX. We also offer a 64-bit wire protocol ODBC 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 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's award-winning support is focused exclusively on data connectivity and includes 24x7 phone, web, email, forum, fax, and an extensive knowledgebase. Resolving data connectivity issues quickly reduces the total cost of ownership of software.

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, fax, 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.

Products

SYBASE ODBC DRIVER

The Most Reliable, Best Performing ODBC Driver for Sybase

What's New

Spotlight - Sybase Migration

Sybase ODBC Customer Success