Quick one today:

In our lab, we have a lot of Sql Server Developer Edition software installed. For the most part, for these Sql Instances, we do not expect any external connections to come in. But once in a while we need them to be available for external connections. That is where we run into human error.

We get errors like this:

TITLE: Connect to Server
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Cannot connect to 153.60.88.142
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
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: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server) 
(Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 5)
For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?ProdName=Microsoft%20SQL%20Server&EvtSrc=MSSQLServer&EvtID=5&LinkId=20476
------------------------------
Access is denied
------------------------------
BUTTONS:
OK
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Usually, we check to make sure

• Port 1433 & 1434 are open in Firewall
• Check the box in Instance properties >> Connection >> “Allow Remote Connections to this server”
• But for default Editions there is one more point to check, i.e. TCP/IP properties under “Sql Server Network Configuration”

When you connect from the same server, Sql uses “Shared Memory” to fulfill the connection requests. But any connections coming in from outside the machine, need to go through “TCP/IP” or “Named Pipes”. So make sure they are enabled.

See the image below:

TCP/IP is Disabled, by default

Hope this helps,
_SqlTimes