Products & Solutions / Enterprise Data Access

SAS/ACCESS® Interface to ODBC

A convenient way to access and use data from ODBC-compliant data sources

SAS/ACCESS Interface to ODBC is an out-of-the-box solution that provides direct connectivity between SAS and ODBC data sources, including ParAccel, Vertica, Microsoft Parallel Data Warehouse and other ODBC-compliant data. However, SAS customers will benefit from the more advanced capabilities available in vendor-specific SAS/ACCESS software modules.

Benefits

  • Integrate more data sources from more platforms.
  • Access data directly, easily and securely with native interfaces.
  • Gain faster performance and reduce network traffic.
  • Support integration through standards, including ODBC, JDBC and OLE DB.
  • Support both technical and business users.

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Features

  • Seamless and transparent data access
  • Flexible query language support
  • Performance features
  • Metadata integration
  • Optimization

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Benefits

  • Integrate more data sources from more platforms. SAS/ACCESS engines provide seamless and transparent read/write/update access to more than 60 data sources, including relational and nonrelational databases, PC files and data warehouse appliances. SAS can help you use all your enterprise data for competitive advantage.
  • Access data directly, easily and securely with native interfaces. No SQL expertise or custom coding of extractions is required. You get a high degree of control over data security because SAS/ACCESS honors and augments the native security of the target data source. SAS enables a transparent approach by making data sources appear as though they are a native SAS data type, which facilitates interaction with SAS procedures, the SAS DATA step and SAS solutions. In addition, users are also able to interact directly with the data source using native data source capabilities.
  • Gain faster performance and reduce network traffic. The ability to pass database queries, joins and many functions to a target data source for processing reduces network traffic and speeds data access. You also gain faster load times with support for native bulk-load utilities.
  • Support integration through standards, including ODBC, JDBC and OLE DB. SAS/ACCESS interfaces are tightly integrated and used by SAS products and solutions for third-party data integration.
  • Support both technical and business users. These out-of-the-box access solutions require minimal training and knowledge transfer. Business users will typically use SAS reporting and analytical capabilities, which can seamlessly access third-party data. Technical users may also access the data transparently, or they can interact directly with the data sources using SQL or other database-specific query languages.

Features

Seamless and transparent data access
  • Broad coverage of data sources and platforms enables you to integrate data from across your organization.
  • Includes the option to access data without detailed knowledge of the database or SQL. The appropriate SQL queries are generated from the interface and passed to the data source for execution.
  • Includes the option to use SQL if so desired.
  • Has the ability to create federated queries that span multiple data sources. The queries are surfaced as database objects that can be used with all SAS solutions.
  • Makes use of security mechanisms inherent in the databases.
Flexible query language support
  • A transparent access option surfaces data with minimal knowledge of the data or the SQL needed for access.
  • A custom SQL option lets users create their own SQL statements or modify automatically generated SQL.
  • Mapping of statements or functions specific to SAS to database-specific statements or functions enables all appropriate SQL statements to be processed directly inside the database, providing the best possible performance.
Performance features
  • Multithreaded read interface uses threaded kernel technology.
  • Data read and writes are highly optimized with buffering, compressions, threading, etc.
  • Has the ability to pass functionality to the database.
  • Has the ability to directly control join-processing capabilities.
Metadata integration
  • Metadata can be accurately maintained within the SAS Metadata Repository.
  • Data jobs are registered via the SAS Metadata Server so they can be used in a variety of SAS solutions. Register data once; then use it in many places.
Optimization
  • Supports native storage options, including temporary tables, materialized views and partitioned tables.
  • Translates native database data to the appropriate SAS data type for optimized processing.
  • Includes national language support.

System Requirements

Host Platforms
  • HP/UX on Itanium: 11iv3 (11.31)
  • HP/UX on PA-RISC: 11iv3 (11.31)
  • IBM AIX on POWER architectures: 6.1 and 7.1
  • Linux (32-bit): Novell SuSE 10 and 11; RHEL 5 and 6
  • Linux x64 (64-bit): Novell SuSE 10 and 11; RHEL 5 and 6
  • Microsoft Windows (32-bit): Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista*, Windows 7**, Windows Server 2003 family, Windows Server 2008 family
  • Microsoft Windows on x64 (64-bit): Windows XP Professional for x64, Windows Vista* for x64, Windows 7** for x64, Windows Server 2003 family for x64, Windows Server 2008 family for x64
  • Solaris on SPARC: Version 10 Update 8
  • Solaris on x64 (x64-86): Version 10 Update 8

* NOTE: Windows Vista supported editions are: Enterprise, Ultimate and Business.
** NOTE: Windows 7 supported editions are: Enterprise, Ultimate and Professional.

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Call us at 1-800-727-0025 (US and Canada) or request more information.