Overview of the JDBC Driver

The Microsoft SQL Server JDBC Driver is a Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) 4.0 compliant driver that provides robust data access to Microsoft SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, and SQL Server 2008 databases. The JDBC driver can access many of the new features of SQL Server 2005, including database mirroring; the xml, user-defined, and large-value data types; and it supports the new "snapshot" transaction isolation. In addition, the JDBC driver also supports the use of integrated authentication with SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, and SQL Server 2008. Note that the Microsoft SQL Server JDBC Driver version 2.0 can connect to SQL Server 2008 but does not support the new data types or other features that are new in SQL Server 2008.

The topics in this section provide a general overview of the JDBC driver, including the system requirements needed to use it, how it can be used, and where you can go for more information.

In This Section

Topic Description

What's New in the JDBC Driver

Describes the features that have been added to the current release of the JDBC driver.

System Requirements for the JDBC Driver

Describes the system requirements needed to use the JDBC driver.

Using the JDBC Driver

Describes how to configure your environment to use the JDBC driver and how to make a simple connection to a SQL Server database.

Understanding Java EE Support

Describes how to use the JDBC driver within a Java Platform, Enterprise Edition 5 (Java EE 5) environment.

Deploying the JDBC Driver

Describes how to deploy the JDBC driver on Windows and Unix operating systems.

Finding Additional JDBC Driver Information

Describes where to find additional resources about the JDBC driver, including links to external resources.

See Also

Concepts

JDBC Driver API Reference