Hi What is the role of data provider in ADO.NET?

A .NET Framework data provider is used for connecting to a database, executing commands, and retrieving results. Those results are either processed directly, placed in a DataSet in order to be exposed to the user as needed, combined with data from multiple sources, or remoted between tiers. .NET Framework data providers are lightweight, creating a minimal layer between the data source and code, increasing performance without sacrificing functionality. Refer this: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/a6cd7c08.aspx