22-25 April 2026
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TDS Protocol Deep Dive

Proposed session for SQLBits 2026

TL; DR

Ever wondered how applications communicate with databases? This session reveals what happens behind the scenes when connecting to SQL Server. We'll examine the protocol messages and demonstrate a Rust service implementing TDS, showing how query commands are processed and results formatted.

Session Details

Ever wondered how your applications communicate with databases? This session reveals what happens behind the scenes when you connect to SQL Server. We'll examine the messages exchanged between client and server, and explore how the TDS protocol makes database communication possible. The centrepiece is a live demonstration of a Rust service that acts as a database by implementing the TDS protocol. You'll observe how query commands are processed, how result sets are structured, and how the protocol manages bidirectional communication.

3 things you'll get out of this session

Explain the internals of TDS protocol Highlight the key things you should be aware of

Speakers

Sergey Olontsev

olontsev.io

Sergey Olontsev's other proposed sessions for 2026

Building a Query Optimizer from Scratch Part 1 - 2026
Building a Query Optimizer from Scratch Part 2 - 2026
Text2SQL vs. Semantic Layers: Choosing the Right Approach for Natural Language Analytics - 2026

Sergey Olontsev's previous sessions

Lessons learned from refactoring multi terabyte databases for the last 10 years
Database refactoring could be tricky sometimes. To learn more about it come to my session, where I will tell you about different situations and scenarios I've came across during the last 10 years. I will share my experience; traps, you easily can get into, and what solutions did I choose to come over it.