database-access-architecture.md

description	Database Access Architecture
title	Database Access Architecture | Microsoft Docs
ms.custom
ms.date	01/19/2017
ms.prod	sql
ms.prod_service	connectivity
ms.reviewer
ms.technology	connectivity
ms.topic	conceptual
helpviewer_keywords	ODBC [ODBC], database access standardizing database access [ODBC], about standardizing SQL [ODBC], database access database access [ODBC] standardizing database access [ODBC]
ms.assetid	3811599f-48cb-4205-9fe5-5ab4b240047d
author	David-Engel
ms.author	v-davidengel

Database Access Architecture

One of the questions in the development of ODBC was which part of the database access architecture to standardize. The SQL programming interfaces described in the previous section - embedded SQL, SQL modules, and CLIs - are only one part of this architecture. In fact, because ODBC was primarily intended to connect personal computer-based applications to minicomputer and mainframe DBMSs, there were also a number of network components, some of which could be standardized.

This section contains the following topics.

• Network Database Access

• Standard Database Access Architectures

• The ODBC Solution