 <p>No, you don't need to create a service to access a database on a server. What you are actually asking is how to read from (write to) database on C#. As I understand you already have an access to the database (user account with granted access and password). You will need to use ADO.NET - it's a technology for data access.</p> <p>You will utilize SqlConnection, SqlDataReader and SqlCommand classes. check for example this example: <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6003480/reading-values-from-sql-database-in-c-sharp">Reading values from SQL database in C#</a></p> <p>There is a newer technology from Microsoft called Entity Framework. It provides better solution for working with databases. Use it if you need to work with many tables and complicated queries.</p>