A data source consists of the data, its associated DBMS, the platform on which the DBMS resides, and the network (if any) used to access that platform. The user must provide certain information in order to connect to the data source, such as a user ID, and a password.

The connection information for each data source is stored in the Windows Registry

Note: You should not modify the Windows Registry directly; it should only be modified by the ODBC administration application, which can be accessed via the Windows Control Panel.