---
title: "Overview of the SqlClient driver | Microsoft Docs"
description: "An overview of the Microsoft SqlClient Data Provider for SQL Server."
ms.custom: ""
ms.date: "09/30/2019"
ms.prod: sql
ms.prod_service: connectivity
ms.technology: connectivity
ms.topic: conceptual
ms.assetid: 5e467fce-7237-4678-bafa-a16f32323d0c
author: David-Engel
ms.author: v-daenge
ms.reviewer: v-kaywon
---
# Overview of the SqlClient driver

[!INCLUDE[Driver_ADONET_Download](../../includes/driver_adonet_download.md)]

 The Microsoft SqlClient Data Provider for SQL Server is a .NET Framework and .NET Core data provider used for connecting to a database, executing commands, and retrieving results.  
  
 The topics in this section provide a general overview of the SqlClient driver.
  
## In this section  
  
|Topic|Description|  
|-----------|-----------------|  
|[Introduction to Microsoft.Data.SqlClient namespace](introduction-microsoft-data-sqlclient-namespace.md)|Introduction page for the Microsoft.Data.SqlClient namespace.|  
|[Download Microsoft SqlClient Data Provider for SQL Server](download-microsoft-sqlclient-data-provider.md)|Download page for ADO.NET and Microsoft SqlClient Data Provider for SQL Server.|  
|[SqlClient driver support lifecycle](sqlclient-driver-support-lifecycle.md)|Page that contains product support lifecycle information.|  
|[Finding additional SqlClient driver information](find-additional-sqlclient-driver-information.md)|Page that contains useful information regarding the driver.|  

## Next steps
 [SqlClient Driver GitHub Repository](https://github.com/dotnet/SqlClient)  
 [.NET API Browser](https://docs.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/)