Linked Servers in Microsoft SQL Server

If you require the ability to relate Historian data with other data in SQL Server tables such as batch events, iFIX Alarms and Events collector, iDownTime™ data, and any other information that is available in a relational database, you can use the Historian OLE DB provider as a linked server in Microsoft SQL Server. You can also use the OLE DB provider as a linked server if you do not want to duplicate data with an import.

With linked servers, when you query data from Historian, the SQL Server fetches the requested data from Historian at the time the query is executed. Data is not duplicated because nothing is imported or stored in SQL Server. The data is simply returned as part of a query, just as any other query on a SQL Server database would return data.

Another benefit of using the Historian OLE DB provider as a linked server is that clients do not need any Historian software installed. For example, a client tool such as Microsoft Query Analyzer can be used to retrieve Historian product data over the network on a computer with no Historian software installed.