Peter J. Boettcher — Wed, 03 Jul 2002 01:41:51 +0000

I don't know for sure but I don't think pinging is a good test for checking ports, it just checks if it can see a machine, I don't think it goes over TCP. I remember fighting with one of our tech guys on this, the web server couldn't talk to the SQL server, and he kept saying "It's not my fault, I can ping the SQL Server from the web server!" A couple days later we discovered that the firewall was indeed blocking port 1433 between the two machines, once they opened the port, problem solved

As for connection strings, I like to use OLEDB: "PROVIDER=SQLOLEDB; NETWORK=DBMSSOCN; SERVER=MyDBServer;DATABASE=MyDatabase;UID=MyUsername;PWD=MyPassword;"

I find it faster than using ODBC.

Thank you

artsapimp — Tue, 02 Jul 2002 23:13:21 +0000

Thank you for your reply.

Yes. I have used Enterprise Manager on the local machine to create a testing database.

I thought I was moving in the wrong direction, but it confused me when the client software wouldn't run.

I had SQL server running on the WWW server a long time ago and it worked so I'm sure the ports are not blocked. And yes, I can ping the server.

What is a common connection string to make a connection to the server? I have tried a few and don't really know which one is best. We will be using a UN/PW on our server (call it user1 and pass1 for now).

Thank you for your help.

Peter J. Boettcher — Tue, 02 Jul 2002 21:30:44 +0000

There could be a whole bunch of problems preventing you from connecting to your SQL Server.

First off, can you connect to your SQL Server from your development PC using Enterprise Manager?

You shouldn't have to install any "client" software on your web server unless you're using some kind of specialized application. Just make sure you've got the latest version of ADO installed and everything should be ok.

Are your database and web server on the same network? Remember, by default all SQL transactions go out over port 1433, so if you're trying to connect through a firewall, make sure you have this port open.