For IBM Cognos 8, the only service that accesses the query database (also known as the reporting database) is the reporting engine that runs reports. The reporting engine is installed with Application Tier Components. To support queries, you must install the database clients for your data sources.
Ensure that you install the database API software for your reporting sources on each computer where Application Tier Components are installed.
Application Tier Components support either native database connectivity or ODBC.
On UNIX, for Microsoft SQL Server only, Application Tier Components support the Data Direct ODBC driver. This driver is available from Data Direct.
IBM Cognos 8 requires TCP/IP connectivity with the Microsoft SQL Server.