Troubleshooting connectivity issue - terminology question 1

[goombawaho]

I'm troubleshooting a SQL server connectivity issue, but I'm not asking the question here. I'm following some troubleshooting steps found on another site and they suggest the following, but I'm not sure what they mean.

ping -a <your_target_machine>
ping -a <Your_remote_IPAddress>
nslookup (type your local and remote machine name and IP address multiple times)

Question: is <your_target_machine> the server that holds the database?
Which machine is <your_remote_ipaddress>, the client computers?

I know it seems dumb, but it doesn't click in my mind.

 

[Sympology]

I'd say PC to Server

so Ping -a <server address>

but doing other way would be usefull as well. That way you can see if connections are opening up either way.

Also on the SQL machine, do a netstat -a and it will show what pc's are connected (though not to SQL)

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

http://alvechurchlounge.org.uk

 

[goombawaho]

So, to nail it down completely:

ping -a <your_target_machine> ----> ping -a <server_name> (and might as well do workstation_name as well)
ping -a <Your_remote_IPAddress> ----> ping -a <server_IP_address>

 

[vacunita]

I'd say that's about right.

Ping the server (by name and then by IP) that holds the db.


----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Web & Tech

 

[goombawaho]

I guess the idea is to ping from workstation to server by name and by ip address. And the other way around wouldn't hurt to make sure all types of communication is functioning properly. I'm making this too hard, but that's what I do.

Thanks.

 

[vacunita]

Yup. Its always good to check connectivity both ways.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Web & Tech

 

[Sympology]

Also if you know the details of the SQL DB i.e. a valid login, you could try setting manual ODBC connection, which will allow you to test.


Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

http://alvechurchlounge.org.uk

 

[goombawaho]

Also if you know the details of the SQL DB i.e. a valid login, you could try setting manual ODBC connection, which will allow you to test.

I know nothing about SQL DB stuff, so it's kind of a black box to me. I'm trying to get past the claims of the software company that it's my job to fix. So, I'm just starting with network connectivity and then I'll have to throw down with them as to where the blame lies.

Then, I may post a question in the SQL area. Anyone got a link to where that should go? The program actually runs on SQL Express.

 

[vacunita]

SQL Express as far as I know is just a more streamlined SQL Server from Microsoft for embedded applications, so I'd start in forum962

Also worth a read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL_Server_Express

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Web & Tech

 

[goombawaho]

Thanks for that.

 

[Sympology]

One very quick test (no idea why I didn't suggest this earlier)

telnet <serverip> 1433

If it goes to a black screen with a flashing curcor, you have connectivity to the SQL server port (all ping really does is test the server is up)

If you can get a valid login (any half decent software will have read access and if it hasn't its a 10 second job for a SQL DBA to create one), the you can follow this.

http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ithelpcentral/solutions/odbcsetup.php

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

http://alvechurchlounge.org.uk

 

[goombawaho]

Thanks for that as well. It's not overall lack of connectivity, it's periodic. My error message post is here:

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1696305