If you perform a Google search for a 64 bit ODBC or OLE/DB provider for Microsoft Access, you will find many people posting inquiries about whether one exists, but you will not find any answers. As of the writing of this white paper, a 64 bit OLEDB/ODBC driver does not exist.
With the upcoming release of Windows Server 2012 and 2008 R2, the importance of 64 bit drivers is increasing, as this operating system will only have a 64 bit version, and many server applications will also be 64 bit only.
The CONNX 64 bit Data Bridge enables any 64 bit aware application to communicate to a 32 bit ODBC or OLEDB provider. This enables SQL Server linked server connections (from a 64 bit instance of SQL Server) to communicate to legacy 32 bit ODBC drivers.
For modern databases such as SQL Server and Oracle, there are already native 64 bit drivers, but for less common systems, or databases where the manufacturer has no plans to create a 64 bit driver, the bridge is a needed component in allowing your systems infrastructure to upgrade, while maintaining access to legacy production data sources.
For companies that already have a 32 bit driver to a given data source, the CONNX 64 bit Data Bridge instantly extends it to a 64 bit ODBC Driver, 64 bit OLE DB Provider, and 64 bit .NET Data Provider. For a complete list of our databases, check out our databases page.
