XNET - new local protocol implementation (win32) ------------------------------------------------ Firebird 2.0 has replaced the former (often referred to as IPC or IPServer) implementation of the local transport protocol with a new one, named XNET. It serves exactly the same goal - provide an efficient way to connect to the local server (without a remote node name in the connection string) - but it's implemented differently, in order to address the known issues with the old protocol. Generally speaking, both implementations use shared memory for inter-process communication, but XNET eliminates usage of window messages to deliver attachment requests and it also implements another synchronization logic. Advantages of the XNET protocol over IPServer: - it works with Classic Server - it works for non-interactive services and terminal sessions - it doesn't lock up when using a few connections simultaneously From the performance point of view, they should behave similarly, although XNET is expected to be slightly faster. As for disadvantages, there's only one - implementations are not compatible with each other. It means that your fbclient.dll version should match the version of the used server binaries (fbserver.exe or fb_inet_server.exe), otherwise you won't be able to establish a local connection (a TCP localhost loopback will do the trick, of course).