First Guide to SQL Anywhere Studio
PART 2. Getting Results with SQL Anywhere Studio
CHAPTER 3. Running and Connecting to a Database Server
The database server forms a communications channel and a manipulation device for the database. The database itself is a file on disk. The database server is the most important piece of Adaptive Server Anywhere, because it lets everything else happen.
Adaptive Server Anywhere comes with two versions of its database server. The first is called the personal database server. It can accept connections from applications or users running on the same machine. By contrast, the network database server also accepts connections from applications or users on other computers by means of the network which links the two machines. Apart from this difference, these two versions of the database server perform the same tasks and are virtually identical.
The database server allows access to databases and processes commands in a secure and efficient manner. All access to your database must be made through a database server. Only one database server at a time can manage a database.
The part of the server that performs all these functions is commonly called the engine. It does all the work in your database, much as the engine in your automobile makes everything go.
For more information about the different versions of the database server, see The Adaptive Server Anywhere database server.