Enterprise-Oriented Features
If you're working with heterogeneous systems, look at middleware products that
support linked server technology. Linked server functionality is useful when
your applications require an immediate interactive connection between SQL Server
2005 and other database platforms.
The Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (DTC) provides an object-oriented
application programming interface that facilitates transaction processing between
distributed Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 1 (SP1) and later platforms. It
also lets you configure security administration settings to reduce security
risks inherent in distributed network environments.
If you're using SQL Server 2005, make sure that any ISV middleware you're interested
in supports all the new SQL Server 2005 features, such as support for the recent
T-SQL enhancements, the new XML and varbinary(max) data types, and the new SQL
Server 2005 schema. You'll also want to make sure products you are considering
support Unicode if you expect both multilingual support and that your applications
create character-based data that can be transferred and used between different
OSs.
Security
If your Windows environment depends on Active Directory (AD) to provide your
users secure access to the applications that run on their desktop, make certain
that any middleware product you choose supports integration with AD. AD provides
a more
secure environment than SQL Server authentication, which uses SQL Server logins
and passwords to authenticate users. Windows authentication, supported on Windows
Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and later, uses Kerberos 5 and NT LAN Manager
(NTLM) authentication to verify a user or host identity. If the database server
runs on Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2003, it will use Kerberos 5 authentication
if AD is running on the server and the client supports Kerberos 5. In all other
cases, the database server will use NTLM authentication to validate a network
username.
Know Your Needs and Wants
Typically, most organizations purchase ISV SQL Server middleware to gain capabilities,
such as heterogeneous database access, that aren't offered by the database server's
native middleware. During your middleware-purchase investigation process, examine
the vendor documentation and support policy and speak with a few of the vendor's
customers, if possible, about their experience with the product. Look for a
product that supports your needs, provides good overall performance, is easy
to deploy and maintain, and integrates directly into your standard security
scheme.The table below lists middleware vendors that sell OLE DB or .NET providers
and ODBC and JDBC data-access drivers for SQL Server. You'll notice variances
in pricing and supported SQL Server functions between these products; let your
decision be guided by the applications you're running and the OSs and platforms
on which your back-end databases reside.
See Associated Buyer's Guide