Help needed on an SQL configuration problem.

Question

I have been banging my head with this one more the two weeks, and still don't know what the problem is ( I can't narrow it down). The problem is the following. I have a solution with 3 project in it all written in c# and I with LINQ. One project is the main web site, the other is the data layer (communication with the database) and the third one is a custom little CMS. The problem is the following: On a hosting provider when I publish the site it all works perfectly, but this site was needed to be hosted on the client server so I needed to do that. But the problem is that I also needed to configure the client server, because they don't have an Administrator employed (I know, I know ;) ). For the first time I some how managed, to set it up but a problem appear. My main web site is working just as it suppose to be - it reads (communicates with) the database, but My CMS is not. It shows the first log in page, but after that when I try to log in it throws the following error: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: TCP Provider, error: 0 - A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond.) Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: TCP Provider, error: 0 - A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond.)

Source Error: 

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.  

Stack Trace: 


[SqlException (0x80131904): A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: TCP Provider, error: 0 - A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond.)]
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection) +4846887
   System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.ThrowExceptionAndWarning(TdsParserStateObject stateObj) +194
   System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.Connect(ServerInfo serverInfo, SqlInternalConnectionTds connHandler, Boolean ignoreSniOpenTimeout, Int64 timerExpire, Boolean encrypt, Boolean trustServerCert, Boolean integratedSecurity, SqlConnection owningObject) +4860189
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.AttemptOneLogin(ServerInfo serverInfo, String newPassword, Boolean ignoreSniOpenTimeout, Int64 timerExpire, SqlConnection owningObject) +90
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.LoginNoFailover(String host, String newPassword, Boolean redirectedUserInstance, SqlConnection owningObject, SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, Int64 timerStart) +342
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.OpenLoginEnlist(SqlConnection owningObject, SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, String newPassword, Boolean redirectedUserInstance) +221
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds..ctor(DbConnectionPoolIdentity identity, SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, Object providerInfo, String newPassword, SqlConnection owningObject, Boolean redirectedUserInstance) +189
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnectionFactory.CreateConnection(DbConnectionOptions options, Object poolGroupProviderInfo, DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnection owningConnection) +185
   System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.CreatePooledConnection(DbConnection owningConnection, DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnectionOptions options) +31
   System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.CreateObject(DbConnection owningObject) +433
   System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.UserCreateRequest(DbConnection owningObject) +66
   System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.GetConnection(DbConnection owningObject) +499
   System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.GetConnection(DbConnection owningConnection) +65
   System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionClosed.OpenConnection(DbConnection outerConnection, DbConnectionFactory connectionFactory) +117
   System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.Open() +122
   System.Data.Linq.SqlClient.SqlConnectionManager.UseConnection(IConnectionUser user) +44
   System.Data.Linq.SqlClient.SqlProvider.get_IsSqlCe() +45
   System.Data.Linq.SqlClient.SqlProvider.InitializeProviderMode() +20
   System.Data.Linq.SqlClient.SqlProvider.System.Data.Linq.Provider.IProvider.Execute(Expression query) +57
   System.Data.Linq.DataQuery`1.System.Linq.IQueryProvider.Execute(Expression expression) +23
   System.Linq.Queryable.Count(IQueryable`1 source) +240
   CMS.Security.UserProfile.LoginUser() in C:\Documents and Settings\Dimitar\Desktop\New Mepso Final 08_04\CMS\Classes\UserProfile.cs:132
   CMS.Default.Login1_Authenticate(Object sender, AuthenticateEventArgs e) in C:\Documents and Settings\Dimitar\Desktop\New Mepso Final 08_04\CMS\Default.aspx.cs:37
   System.Web.UI.WebControls.Login.OnAuthenticate(AuthenticateEventArgs e) +108
   System.Web.UI.WebControls.Login.AttemptLogin() +115
   System.Web.UI.WebControls.Login.OnBubbleEvent(Object source, EventArgs e) +101
   System.Web.UI.Control.RaiseBubbleEvent(Object source, EventArgs args) +37
   System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.OnCommand(CommandEventArgs e) +118
   System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.RaisePostBackEvent(String eventArgument) +166
   System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.System.Web.UI.IPostBackEventHandler.RaisePostBackEvent(String eventArgument) +10
   System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(IPostBackEventHandler sourceControl, String eventArgument) +13
   System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(NameValueCollection postData) +36
   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +1565

 

Maybe this is a dumb question, but I cannot find the root of the problem, let alone the solution. So far I have tried the following:

-setting time out on connection string to a higher value -configuration and after that turning off server firewall -checking the connection string over and over again (they are the same for all three projects and are saved in web.config)

Important notes: I have tried executing the project from VS2008 with a connection string to the same database and the results are the same. That's why I think the problem is the SQL Server 2005 and not the IIS7.

Any bit of information is more then welcomed.

UPDATE: PLEASE never mind the question, after all it was a connection string problem. It seems that VS2008 didn't rebuild the solution right. I have to delete everything in bin folder (Debug and Release) to rebuild everything again with copy paste of every link plus adding "Persist Security = true" to every connection string, and then it work (also I renamed the server name with the server IP, but I don't think that this really matter).

Answer 1

SQL server, by default, doesn't allow remote connections. It comes with a "Surface Area Configuration" tool, which you can use to enable TCP if you really need to. It'd probably be better to use a trusted connection if you can, though -- that's the better choice if your SQL server and your web server are the same machine, as then you're not opening yourself up to skript kiddies. (You'd be shocked at how many people try to break into SQL Server.)

If you've already enabled TCP connections, then check to make sure any firewall that's running isn't blocking access to it from the hosts that need access.

Answer 2

Possible solutions:

• enable TCP connections
• check the maximum concurrent connections
• test network access, and then re-test it (ssh to the first server and try to ping the db)