The personal database server   This executable is provided for single-user, same-computer use—for example, as an embedded database server—and does not support client/server communications across a network.

On Windows operating systems, except Windows Mobile, the name of the personal server executable is dbeng12.exe. On Unix operating systems its name is dbeng12. The personal server is not supported on Windows Mobile.

The network database server   This executable supports client/server communications across a network, and is intended for multi-user use.

On Windows operating systems, including Windows Mobile, the name of the network server executable is dbsrv12.exe. On Linux and Unix operating systems, the name is dbsrv12.