SQL Native Client is recommended but has been deprecated?

[sasdfasdfsad]

The PowerBI documentation says to use the SNAC (SQL Server Native Client) but that has also been removed and it suggests using the newest OLE DB driver....???
Power Query SQL Server connector - Power Query | Microsoft Learn

However, the SQL Native Client has been removed and is not recommended.

So what is the best choice here?

[v-stephen-msft]

Hi @sasdfasdfsad ,

As explained in the documentation, note that the OLE DB driver is used by default for Power BI's SQL Server connector.

The SQL Server Native Client (often abbreviated SNAC) has been removed from SQL Server 2022 (16.x) and SQL Server Management Studio 19 (SSMS).

They refer to different objects, that's how I understand it. One in Power BI and one in SQL Server 2022 and SSMS 2019.

Best Regards,

Stephen Tao

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[sasdfasdfsad]

Why do they recommend using the SQL Native Client driver if it has been depreciated though?  That's the weird bit.

[v-stephen-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @sasdfasdfsad ,

Here's my personal understanding: it means that Power BI doesn't need best/high performance for connecting to SQL Server by default, so the OLE DB driver is installed. But if you need the best performance, you need to install SQL Server Native Client before using the SQL Server connector. 

Best Regards,

Stephen Tao

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.