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FernandoTropico's avatar
FernandoTropico
Copper Contributor
Aug 04, 2021

Is ODBC worth updating?

Hi guys. I am new to the community. SQL DBA in Townsville, Australia.

We've moved mostly away from ODBC connections and over to PowerQuery, via DirectAccess or Import on our reports and Sharepoint lists. However, we are still updating ODBC drivers and I am wondering, what for? We used to have a staffer here love MS Query and always using predefined ODBC connections to our SQL databases, but we've finally convinced her to move into PowerQuery, and she's loving it.

So can we leave ODBC alone now? Is there a good reason, other than legacy connecting to SQL server, to keep it? Or did I misunderstand the entire methodology, whereas PowerQuery is still using ODBC under the hood?

Thanks

2 Replies

  • AnatoliD's avatar
    AnatoliD
    Copper Contributor
    Aug 13, 2021
    The last is correct - PowerQuery is using ODBC.
    PowerQuery can use ODBC, OLEDB, ODATA, etc

    ODBC driver is being updated mostly for interaction with Azure services:
    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/connect/odbc/windows/release-notes-odbc-sql-server-windows?view=sql-server-ver15

    Unless you have a specific problem - you don't really need to update it.

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