Net Lib is also able to support the impersonation of a logged in users security context for protocols that support authenticated connections called trusted connections. This allows Net Lib to provide an integrated logon authentication mechanism via the use of Windows Authentication. Windows Authentication is not supported on Windows 9. Windows Me. 1OLE DB also called OLEDB or OLE DB allows MDAC applications access to different types of data stores in a uniform manner. Microsoft has used this technology to separate the application from data can store in the website the data store that it needs to access. This was done because different applications need access to different types and sources of data, and do not necessarily need to know how to access technology specific functionality. The technology is conceptually divided into consumers and providers. The consumers are the applications that need access to the data, and the provider is the software component that exposes an OLE DB interface through the use of the Component Object Model or COM. OLE DB is the database access interface technology used by MDAC. OLE DB providers can be created to access such simple data stores as a text file or spreadsheet, through to such complex databases as Oracle and SQL Server. However, because different data store technology can have different capabilities, OLE DB providers may not implement every possible interface available. The capabilities that are available are implemented through the use of COM objects an OLE DB provider will map the data store technologys functionality to a particular COM interface. Microsoft calls the availability of an interface to be provider specific as it may not be applicable depending on the database technology involved. Additionally, however, providers may also augment the capabilities of a data store these capabilities are known as services in Microsoft parlance. The Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server SQLOLEDB is the OLE DB provider that Microsoft provides for the Microsoft SQL Server from version 6. According to Microsoft, SQLOLEDB will be the primary focus of future MDAC feature enhancements and will be available on the 6. Windows operating system. Universal data linkeditUniversal data link files or. A user can use a Data Link Properties dialog box to save connection information in a. Consequently, these files provide a convenient level of indirection. Additionally, the dialog box specifies a number of alternate OLE DB data providers for a variety of target applications. Open Database Connectivity ODBC is a native interface that is accessed through a programming language usually C that can make calls into a native library. In MDAC this interface is defined as a DLL. A separate module or driver is needed for each database that must be accessed. The functions in the ODBC API are implemented by these DBMS specific drivers. The driver that Microsoft provides in MDAC is called the SQL Server ODBC Driver SQLODBC, and as the name implies is designed for Microsofts SQL Server. It supports SQL Server v. ODBC allows programs to use SQL requests that will access databases without having to know the proprietary interfaces to the databases. It handles the SQL request and converts it into a request that the individual database system understands. Active. X Data Objects ADO is a high level programming interface to OLE DB.