Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) is a set of software components that are used to provide applications a means to access data from various data storage sources, with a focus on access to Microsoft SQL Server. Business Strategy The Economist Pdf there. A large number of applications, and the operating system itself, depend on MDAC-contained components for proper operation. MDAC is not a single product; rather, it is a collection of DLLs and associated component resources to support a number of different APIs, including Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), OLE DB, Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), and Microsoft Remote Data Service (RDS). MDAC installation not only places a large number of common shared files in various places across the Microsoft Windows system drive; it is also responsible for adding many registry keys to the registry. MDAC is included with a large number of applications and Windows operating systems. Frequently, MDAC components are installed in silent mode; because of this behavior, the user might be unaware that a given application is even installing an MDAC update.