title: SQL providerName in web.config
body: <p>We are using ASP.NET (Framework 2) and setting database connection strings (SQL2005) in web.config.</p>
  
  <p>We are currently using "<code>providerName=SqlServer</code>".</p>
  
  <p>All our data accesses are done using <code>System.Data.SqlClient</code> - should we therefore change to <code>providerName=System.Data.SqlClient</code>? I find many examples of this providerName on the web, but very little explaining what providerName=SqlServer actually means.</p>
  
  <p>Is there a difference? I'm worried that the providerName we currently specify is actually referencing a legacy (and maybe slower) client, or is there an even more efficient client than SqlClient for use with ASP.NET?</p>