SQL Server Distributed Queries

SQL Server 7.0 supports access to data in multiple, heterogeneous data sources, which can be on either the same or different computers. The data can be stored in various relational and nonrelational data sources for which there is either an OLE DB provider or ODBC driver. The OLE DB provider exposes its data in tabular objects called rowsets. SQL Server 7.0 allows a rowset from an OLE DB provider to be referenced in the FROM clause of a SQL query as if it were a SQL Server table.