Network Libraries

On the Network Libraries screen, you can select network libraries to install for Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000. Network libraries are used to pass network packets between clients and a server running SQL Server. The network libraries, implemented as dynamic-link libraries (DLLs), perform the network operations required to communicate using specific interprocess communication (IPC) mechanisms.

A server can listen on, or monitor, multiple network libraries at one time. During installation, SQL Server Setup installs all of the Net-Libraries onto the computer and allows you to configure some or all of the Net-Libraries. If a particular Net-Library is not configured, the server cannot listen on that Net-Library. After installation, you can change these configurations using the Server Network utility.

For a clustered installation, only Named Pipes and TCP/IP are available. When installing a clustered instance, the unsupported network libraries are unavailable. When you install named instances, the Multiprotocol, AppleTalk, and Banyan VINES protocols are unavailable.

Options

Named Pipes

Named Pipes support is required on Microsoft Windows NT® and Microsoft Windows® 2000 installations of SQL Server. Server-side Named Pipes is not supported on Microsoft Windows 98. By default, SQL Server listens on the standard pipe for Named Pipes Net-Library connections.

Named Pipes name

Paths for the default and named instances differ:

• Default instance: \\.\pipe\sql\query
  
  
• Named instance: \\.\pipe\MSSQL$instancename\sql\query

After SQL Server is installed, you can change the pipe name.

TCP/IP Sockets

This Net-Library allows SQL Server to communicate by using standard Windows Sockets as the IPC method across the TCP/IP protocol. By default, all installations of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 on all operating systems use the TCP/IP Sockets Net-Library.

Note the following when using TCP/IP Sockets:

• SQL Server uses UDP port 1434 to establish connections from SQL Server 2000 clients. This socket number is also reserved for SQL Server by Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA).
  
  
• Do not use dynamic ports and do not set a proxy server address, because the port you are listening on can change at each service startup.

Port Number

If you set SQL Server to listen on TCP/IP, type the TCP/IP port number in the Port number box only if you want SQL Server to listen on a port address different from the default address. This is the port that SQL Server listens on when accepting connections from TCP/IP Sockets clients. The default number for a default instance is 1433, the official IANA socket number for SQL Server. The port for a named instance is dynamically assigned when the instance is first started, unless you set an alternate port during setup.

Remote Winsock proxy address

If you set SQL Server to listen on a proxy server using Microsoft Proxy Server over TCP/IP Sockets, type the proxy server address in the Remote WinSock proxy address box when you set up the TCP/IP Sockets Net-Library.

Multiprotocol

The Multiprotocol Net-Library uses the Windows NT remote procedure call (RPC) facility. In addition, the Multiprotocol Net-Library:

• Communicates over most IPC mechanisms supported by Windows NT. Only TCP/IP Sockets, NWLink IPX/SPX, and Named Pipes are considered tested and supported.
  
  
• Allows the use of Windows Authentication over all protocols that RPC supports.
  
  
• Supports encryption for user password authentication as well as data.
  
  
• Offers performance comparable to native IPC Net-Libraries for most applications.

Enable Multiprotocol encryption

Use Multiprotocol encryption only for compatibility with existing systems. The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption that can be enabled using the Server Network Utility (after running Setup) is a more comprehensive encryption solution. Multiprotocol encryption is not supported on Windows 98 servers.

Note  The Multiprotocol Net-Library is not supported with named instances.

NWLink IPX/SPX

This Net-Library allows SQL Server to communicate using the NWLink IPX/SPX protocol.

Novell Bindery Service Name

If you set up SQL Server to listen on NWLink IPX/SPX, the Setup program prompts you for the Novell Bindery service name in which to register SQL Server on the Novell network. The default service name is the computer name of the server computer. The Net-Library allows Novell SPX clients to connect to SQL Server.

The server NWLink IPX/SPX Net-Library is not available on Windows 98 and Windows 95.

AppleTalk ADSP

The server AppleTalk (ADSP) Net-Library allows Apple Macintosh® clients to connect to SQL Server using native AppleTalk (as opposed to TCP/IP Sockets).

Note  The AppleTalk Net-Library has not been enhanced for SQL Server 2000 and runs at a SQL Server 7.0 level of functionality. This Net-Library will not be supported in a future release of SQL Server 2000 and is not supported on named instances.

Apple Talk Service Object

If you set up SQL Server to listen on AppleTalk, Setup prompts you for the AppleTalk service object name. The AppleTalk service object name is assigned by your system administrator. It is not necessary to enter an AppleTalk zone because the local zone is used when registering the service.

The AppleTalk Net-Library is not supported on Windows 98 and Windows 95.

Banyan VINES

SQL Server supports Banyan VINES Sequenced Packet Protocol (SPP) as the IPC method across the Banyan VINES IP network protocol. Banyan VINES support for clients and servers running Windows NT is available for SQL Server on the Intel® platform only; it is not available on Windows 98 and Windows 95.

Note  The Banyan VINES Net-Library has not been enhanced and runs at a SQL Server 7.0 level of functionality. This Net-Library will not be supported in a future release of SQL Server 2000 and is not supported on named instances.

Street Talk Service name

If you set up SQL Server to listen on Banyan VINES, the Setup program prompts you for a StreetTalk service name. This has the form servicename@group@org, where servicename is the StreetTalk computer-based service name used by SQL Server, group is the group, and org is the organization. The computer-based service name used by SQL Server must first be created by using the MSERVICE program included with your Banyan VINES software. Also, to start SQL Server, you must be logged in with administrative permissions.

Enable protocol encryption for all libraries

Select this check box to enable protocol encryption for all network libraries. To use protocol encryption, you must have a certificate on the server. For information about obtaining a certificate, see the Microsoft Windows documentation. If you do not have a certificate, you can enable encryption after installing SQL Server using the Server Network Utility.

Default Net-Library Settings

Note  TCP/IP networking must be enabled before running SQL setup.

All Net-Libraries are installed by the Setup program. The table shows the default server and client Net-Library settings by operating system.

See Also

Configuring Client Net-Libraries

Net-Libraries and Network Protocols