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Microsoft SQL Server Data Sources

Depending on the types of Microsoft SQL Server data sources you are using, there are considerations you should keep in mind when defining some types of authentication.

If you are using Microsoft SQL Server 2008, you can either select Microsoft SQL Server (OLE DB) or you can select Microsoft SQL Server (SQL 2005 Native Client) and modify the connection string. If you want to use new date and time data types supported by Microsoft SQL Server 2008, use the new SQL Server ODBC client. Microsoft SQL Server (OLE DB) may not support all new data types. For more information, see your Microsoft SQL Server 2008 documentation.

Authentication Using IBM Cognos 8 Service Credentials

When connecting to Microsoft SQL Server using OLE DB, you can select IBM Cognos 8 Service Credentials as the signon type for the data source connection. This property instructs IBM Cognos 8 to log on to the SQL Server database using the logon specified for the IBM Cognos 8 service. Users do not require individual database signons. However, all users will authenticate to the database with the same credentials and will have the same view of the data. For production environments, individual database signons are generally more appropriate.

You should not use a Windows local system account for the IBM Cognos 8 server logon with a Microsoft SQL Server OLE DB data source.

Authentication Using an External Namespace

You can configure IBM Cognos 8 to use a Microsoft Active Directory namespace, where users are prompted for credentials as part of the IBM Cognos 8 logon process. You can configure IBM Cognos 8 to use these same credentials automatically when accessing the Microsoft SQL Server data source. The data source connection for Microsoft SQL Server must be configured for An external namespace and that namespace must be the Active Directory namespace.

You can configure IBM Cognos 8 to use a Microsoft Active Directory namespace and to authenticate users for IBM Cognos 8 using Kerberos authentication and delegation. You can configure IBM Cognos 8 to automatically authenticate the user when accessing the Microsoft SQL Server data source. The following configuration is required:

For more information about installation options for the gateway and Content Manager, as well as configuring the namespace and delegating trust, see the IBM Cognos 8 Installation and Configuration Guide.

Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft SQL Server (SQL 2005 Native Client) Connection Parameters

The following parameters are used by Microsoft SQL Server (OLE DB).

Parameter

Description

Server name

Enter the server name.

Database Name

Enter the database name.

Application Name

Enter the application name.

Collation Sequence

Enter the collation sequence to be included in the database connection string.

Collation sequences are required only in rare cases where there may be sorting discrepancies between IBM Cognos 8 and a database. We recommend that you contact customer support before using a collation sequence.

MARS Connection

Select the Multiple Active Results Set (MARS) connection. This parameter is used only by Microsoft SQL Server (SQL 2005 Native Client).

Click Yes to allow applications to have more than one pending request per connection and more than one active default result set per connection.

Signon

For more information on signon, see Securing Data Sources.

If no authentication is required, select No authentication.

For more information on IBM Cognos 8, see Authentication Using IBM Cognos 8 Service Credentials.

If you use a Microsoft Active Directory namespace and you want to support single signon, select An external namespace, and select the Active Directory namespace. For more information, see Authentication Using an External Namespace.

If authentication is required, select Signons.

If a user ID and password is required in the connection string, select the User ID check box.

If a password is required, select the Password check box and enter the password in the Password and Confirm password boxes.

You can include database commands in the connection information for this type of data source. For more information, see Using Database Commands for Oracle, DB2, and Microsoft SQL Server.

For information about Microsoft SQL Server (ODBC) connection parameters, see ODBC Data Sources.