OLE DB provider

The program in the OLE DB architecture that enables native access to the data, meaning the database accesses the data in a way that is intrinsic to the product, as opposed to using ODBC, IISAM drivers, and so on, which are external ways to access the data. Examples of OLE DB providers are Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server or Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Jet . By contrast, the application that accesses the data, such as Microsoft Access 2000 or Microsoft Visual Basic, is called an OLE DB consumer, or data consumer.