Sybase 12.4.2 manual Configuring IQ Servers with Dsedit, Interfaces file, 483

CHAPTER 14 Adaptive Server IQ as a Data Server

	At the other end of the client/server connection, while many Open Servers use
	the Sybase Open Server libraries to handle the interface to TDS, some
	applications have a direct interface to TDS of their own. Sybase Adaptive
	Server Enterprise and Adaptive Server IQ both have internal TDS interfaces.
	They appear to client applications as an Open Server, but do not use the Sybase
	Open Server libraries.
TDS uses TCP/IP	Application protocols such as TDS sit on top of lower level communications
	protocols that handle network traffic. Adaptive Server IQ supports TDS only
	over the TCP/IP network protocol. In contrast, the Adaptive Server IQ-specific
	application protocol supports several network protocols as well as a shared
	memory protocol designed for same-machine communication.

Configuring IQ Servers with DSEDIT

Adaptive Server IQ can communicate with other Adaptive Servers, Open Server applications, and client software on the network. Clients can talk to one or more servers, and servers can communicate with other servers via remote procedure calls. In order for products to interact with one another, each needs to know where the others reside on the network. This network service information is stored in the interfaces file.

The interfaces file

The interfaces file is usually named sql.ini on PC operating systems, and interfaces or interfac on UNIX operating systems.

The interfaces file is like an address book. It lists the name and address of every database server known to Open Client applications on your machine. When you use an Open Client program to connect to a database server, the program looks up the server name in the interfaces file and then connects to the server using the address.

The name, location, and contents of the interfaces file differ between operating systems. Also, the format of the addresses in the interfaces file differs between network protocols.

When you install Adaptive Server IQ, the setup program creates a simple interfaces file that you can use for local connections to Adaptive Server IQ over TCP/IP. It is the System Administrator’s responsibility to modify the interfaces file and distribute it to users so that they can connect to Adaptive Server IQ over the network.

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