ADO.NET Entity Framework represents the first major data modeling endeavor from Microsoft since the inception of the .NET framework and typed datasets. Essentially, it serves as an intermediate layer between application code and the database. It is different from LINQ to SQL in that it does not closely mirror the underlying database structure. Instead, data objects are modeled directly and the mappings are handled in an after-the-fact fashion.
At first, Microsoft will only be including the SQL Server provider LINQ to SQL. However, the other database vendors are not going to allow themselves to be left behind. Eight vendors have announced that they will have providers within three months of RTM. David Sceppa of ADO.NET posted this list.
- Core Lab - Providing connectivity to Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQLite databases
- IBM - Providing connectivity to both IBM DB2 data server and Informix Dynamic Server (IDS) databases
- MySQL AB - Providing connectivity to MySQL databases
- Npgsql - Providing connectivity to PostgreSQL database versions 7.3+ and 8.x
- OpenLink Software - Providing connectivity to Oracle, Informix, Ingres, Sybase, MySQL, PostgreSQL, DB2, Progress and Microsoft SQL Server databases, and any data source accessible via OpenLink ODBC or JDBC bridge drivers
- Phoenix Software International - Providing connectivity to SQLite databases
- Sybase - Providing connectivity to SQL Anywhere databases
- VistaDB Software - Providing connectivity to VistaDB databases