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SNAC lifecycle explained

  • 04/14/2017

SNAC, or SQL Server Native Client, is a term that has been used interchangeably to refer to ODBC and OLE DB drivers for SQL Server. In essence, current versions are tied to SQL Server support lifecycle itself. Currently Microsoft provides support for a few different versions from a lifecycle standpoint:

  • SNAC 10 is a single dynamic-link library (DLL) containing both the SQL OLE DB provider and SQL ODBC driver for Windows. It contains run-time support for applications using native-code APIs (ODBC, OLE DB and ADO) to connect to Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005, 2008 and 2008 R2 versions.
  • SNAC 11 is a single dynamic-link library (DLL) containing both the SQL OLE DB provider and SQL ODBC driver for Windows. It contains run-time support for applications using native-code APIs (ODBC, OLE DB and ADO) to connect to Microsoft SQL Server 2005, 2008, 2008 R2, and SQL Server 2012. A separate SQL ODBC-only driver is available for Linux.
    • Note that SNAC 11 does not support features released with SQL Server 2014 and SQL Server 2016 that were not available as part of SQL Server 2012, such as Transparent Network IP Resolution, Always Encrypted, Azure AD Authentication, Bulk Copy and Table Value Parameters.
    • Also note that the previously announced OLE DB deprecation does not affect linked servers functionality.
  • SNAC 12.x and 13.x for SQL Server are single dynamic-link libraries (DLL) containing run-time support for applications using SQL ODBC-only native-code APIs to connect to Microsoft SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2012, SQL Server 2014, SQL Server 2016, Analytics Platform System, Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Data Warehouse. Depending on the specific build, these are available for Windows and Linux.

The table below outlines the several supported versions and respective lifecycles:

 SQL Server Version   SNAC Installed   SNAC Build Number   End of Mainstream *    End of Support *    ODBC   OLE DB **    Download Link 
2000 to 2008 SNAC 10 10.0.x 7/8/2014 7/9/2019 Y Y Latest Servicing update for SQL Server 2008 R2 Native Client
 2005 to 2012  SNAC 11  11.0.x  7/11/2017  7/12/2022  Y  Y   Latest Servicing update for SQL Server 2012 Native Client ODBC Driver 11 for SQL Server - Red Hat Linux
 2005 to 2014  SNAC 11  12.0.x  7/9/2019  7/9/2024  Y  N   ODBC Driver 11 for SQL Server – Windows only
 2008 to 2016  SNAC 13  13.0.x13.1.x  7/13/2021  7/14/2026  Y  N  ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server - Windows + Linux ODBC Driver 13.1 for SQL Server - Windows + Linux

* Aligned with SQL Server support lifecycle
** OLE DB available on Windows only

Further details available in Support Policies for SQL Server Native Client and System Requirements, Installation, and Driver Files. On OLE DB specifically, refer to OLE DB Supportability Guidelines.

Microsoft also made available a technical article about Converting SQL Server Applications from OLE DB to ODBC, as well as A Quick Guide for OLE DB to ODBC Conversion.

If you are looking for information about support for TLS 1.2, please refer to KB 3135244.

Note (10/6/2017): OLE DB is being undeprecated. Read more about it here.

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