The choice of IPC mechanism is constrained by the operating system and network being used. For example, Microsoft SQL Server for OS/2 uses named pipes as its IPC mechanism, SYBASE SQL Server on UNIX uses TCP/IP sockets, and SYBASE on VMS uses DECnet Sockets. In a heterogeneous environment, multiple IPC mechanisms might be used on a single computer.
SQL Server for Windows NT can communicate over multiple IPC mechanisms. SQL Server communicates on named pipes (over either NetBEUI or TCP/IP network protocols) with Windows, Windows NT, MS-DOS, and OS/2 clients. It can also simultaneously support TCP/IP Sockets for communication with Macintosh, UNIX, or VMS clients and SPX sockets for communications in a Novell NetWare environment. SQL Server also supports Banyan VINES, DECnet Sockets, and AppleTalk.