Sybase defines a security mechanism as external software that provides security services for a connection. For example, these are some security mechanisms that can be used on a Client-Library connection:
DCE security servers and security clients provide security services for clients and servers within a DCE cell.
CyberSafe Kerberos provides security services for clients on Windows and UNIX and servers on UNIX.
Windows NT LAN Manager Security Services Provider Interface (SSPI) provides security services for servers on Windows NT (3.5 and later) and clients on NT (3.5 and later), and Windows 95.
Certain security systems, such as DCE,
use the Data Encryption Standard (DES),
which is banned for export by the United States State Department.
If you are in the United States and writing software for export,
verify that the security mechanism is available.
Sybase provides security drivers that allow Client-Library and Server-Library applications to take advantage of an installed network security system. By using security drivers, Client-Library and Server-Library provide a portable interface for implementing secure applications that work with several different network security systems.
To use a security mechanism on a connection, each item below must be true:
The client and server must be configured to use compatible security drivers. For example, if the server runs on a Windows NT machine and uses the Microsoft SSPI driver for NT, then a Windows 95 client application must use the Microsoft SSPI driver for Windows 95.
The client must request services by setting connection properties before connecting to the server.
The underlying security mechanism must support the requested services.
