Understanding Business Connectivity Services
Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010
Microsoft Business Connectivity Services (BCS) enables users to read and write data from external systems—through Web services, databases, and Microsoft .NET Framework assemblies—from within Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and Microsoft Office 2010 applications. Both SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010 applications have product features that can use external data directly, both online and offline. Developers can gain access to a rich set of features and rapidly build solutions by using familiar tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010.
The following figure is a high-level architecture diagram of Microsoft Business Connectivity Services (BCS).
Figure 1. High-level architecture of BCS
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To understand the important concepts and architecture of Business Connectivity Services, see the following topics:
How Is Business Connectivity Services Different From the Business Data Catalog?
Understanding Business Connectivity Services Client Cache to Optimize Your Solutions