Is SAS EG 7.1 compatible with SQL 2016?

[itareque]

My company is working on upgrading all our database servers from SQL 2007 to SQL Server 2016. All the ports and servers will have the same name, but I want to make sure that SAS EG 7.1 is compatible with SQL 2016. I cannot find any documentation on SAS SQL compatibility. So I was wondering if anyone can help me with this. Thanks!

[RW9]

SQL is a programming language not an application.  Please supply what database you are talking about, e.g. SQLServer, MySQL etc.

[itareque]

Thanks for your response. The database is being moved to SQLServer 2016. Is there any documentation that supports that SAS EG 7.1 is compatible with it?

[nhvdwalt]

@itareque

1.) Which version of SAS are you using ? 9.4 ?

2.) Are you using SAS Access to MS-SQL Server, SAS Access to ODBC or another method as described by @ChrisHemedinger ?

3.) Do you connect to a SAS server ? If so, which OS ? Linux or Windows ?

[SuryaKiran]

"Compatible" may not be the right word to use. Yes, SAS can connect even after the upgrades. You might use the right drivers to connect from SAS after the upgrade. 

[jebjur · Accepted solution]

Enterprise Guide is a client application that must connect to a SAS server in order to work. It does not do any processing on its own. It generates SAS code, sends it down to the server for processing, and waits for the results. So the better question is whether or not the version of SAS you have installed on the server is compatible with SQL server 2016 (I'm assuming by 'SQL 2016' you meant SQL Server 2016').

In order for SAS to connect to a database such as SQL Server, there has to be a SAS/Access product licensed and installed on the SAS server, such as SAS/Access to ODBC or SAS/Access to OLEDB. These SAS/Access products can be used to connect to any ODBC or OLEDB-compliant database, as long as the database vendor can supply the appropriate drivers. So in a nutshell, as long as Microsoft can provide the appropriate ODBC driver or OLEDB provider (depending on the SAS/Access product you have licensed) for SQL Server 2016, it will work fine with SAS.

[nhvdwalt]

@itareque

Below are the system requirements for SAS 9.4. Select the OS on which your SAS deployment runs e.g. Linux and then look at the requirements for the particular SAS/Access engine you are using e.g. SAS/Access to MS-SQL Server

When in doubt, always contact SAS Technical Support

https://support.sas.com/en/search.html?q=*%3A*&fq=siteArea%3A%22System%20Requirements%22&fq=releases...

[ChrisHemedinger]

In addition to the SAS/ACCESS methods, there are two other methods that people use to connect EG to Microsoft SQL Server:

• File->Open->OLE DB... -- connects directly to a database.  Pulls data through EG to SAS for analysis.  As such, it can be nonperformant for large data -- but sometimes folks use this anyway.
• File->Open->OLAP Cube, Private OLAP Servers -- connects to a Microsoft Analysis Services source using OLE DB for OLAP.

In either case, Microsoft SQL Server 2016 should work fine.  The magic is in the OLE DB provider, as others have said.