Unable to Connect to a shared database from a Branch office

[CalebS]

Hey,

I am running BCM 2007 on a SQL 2005 Express database install and have the
database shared. This is running in a domain environment. I am able to
connect to the shared database perfectly from any computer running on the
local network in our Seattle office. We have a office in Portland and Denver
and they are connected via VPN tunnels. When I attempt to connect to the
shared database from one of the computers in these offices I get an error
(see attached photo) :

"Cannot fine computer <computername>. Confirm that the remote computer
exists and that it is available on the network."

From this same computer, I can ping the database computer just fine. I have
tried connecting via ip and computer name but get the same error.

I'm not sure what is blocking BCM from connecting to the shared database.
Your help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[CalebS]

After putting in a call to Microsoft's support I was able to get this working.

It was windows firewall setting.

1. Open Control Panel and Windows Firewall
2. click on the exceptions tab
3. Find "Microsoft small business" and click edit (port should be 5356 TCP)
4. Then click Change Scope.
5. Then select "Any computer including those on the internet"

This then allowed traffic from the branch offices that were on a different
subnet to access this port and the database.

Here is another article that they referred me to that may help this or other
connection problems you may be having.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901164

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is some information the support agent email me that also may help.

"Verify the connection to the SQL database
To verify that the Business Contact Manager client can establish a
connection to a shared Business Contact Manager database, follow these steps:
1. Log on the Business Contact Manager client computer as a Windows user
who is granted access to the database on the Business Contact Manager server.
2. Click Start , click Run , type cmd , and then click OK .
3. At the command prompt, type the following command and then press ENTER:
C:\>sqlcmd –E -S Server_Name \mssmlbiz,5356

Note sqlcmd switches are case-sensitive. Server_Name is the name of the
Business Contact Manager server.
When you run this command, the Business Contact Manager Client tries to
connect directly to the remote SQL instance. If the client can establish a
connection to the remote instance of Business Contact Manager, an OSQL
command prompt appears. An OSQL command prompt is indicated by "1>".

The appearance of an OSQL command prompt indicates the following:
• The client computer can communicate with the Business Contact Manager
database.
• The Business Contact Manager database is successfully configured for
sharing.
• The user who performs the test from the Business Contact Manager client is
successfully granted permissions to access the database.
A successful connection to a remote instance of Business Contact Manager
will appear as follows:
C:\> sqlcmd –E -S Server_Name\mssmlbiz,5356 1>

If the Business Contact Manager client cannot establish a connection to the
remote instance of Business Contact Manager, you may receive an error message
that resembles the following in Business Contact Manager when you try to
connect to the server:

Cannot access the database server on computer Computer_Name


This error message may indicate the following possible problems:
• The destination server is unavailable or the Business Contact Manager
instance is not running.
• The Microsoft Firewall or a third-party firewall is blocking access to the
SQL server.
• The database has not been shared for the user who is trying to access the
server. This issue may occur if the Business Contact Manager client and
server are in different workgroups or domains. For more information, see the
section "Business Contact Manager database sharing configurations"
"

 

[CalebS]

After putting in a call to Microsoft's support I was able to get this working.

It was windows firewall setting.

1. Open Control Panel and Windows Firewall
2. click on the exceptions tab
3. Find "Microsoft small business" and click edit (port should be 5356 TCP)
4. Then click Change Scope.
5. Then select "Any computer including those on the internet"

This then allowed traffic from the branch offices that were on a different
subnet to access this port and the database.

Here is another article that they referred me to that may help this or other
connection problems you may be having.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901164

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is some information the support agent email me that also may help.

"Verify the connection to the SQL database
To verify that the Business Contact Manager client can establish a
connection to a shared Business Contact Manager database, follow these steps:
1. Log on the Business Contact Manager client computer as a Windows user
who is granted access to the database on the Business Contact Manager server.
2. Click Start , click Run , type cmd , and then click OK .
3. At the command prompt, type the following command and then press ENTER:
C:\>sqlcmd –E -S Server_Name \mssmlbiz,5356

Note sqlcmd switches are case-sensitive. Server_Name is the name of the
Business Contact Manager server.
When you run this command, the Business Contact Manager Client tries to
connect directly to the remote SQL instance. If the client can establish a
connection to the remote instance of Business Contact Manager, an OSQL
command prompt appears. An OSQL command prompt is indicated by "1>".

The appearance of an OSQL command prompt indicates the following:
• The client computer can communicate with the Business Contact Manager
database.
• The Business Contact Manager database is successfully configured for
sharing.
• The user who performs the test from the Business Contact Manager client is
successfully granted permissions to access the database.
A successful connection to a remote instance of Business Contact Manager
will appear as follows:
C:\> sqlcmd –E -S Server_Name\mssmlbiz,5356 1>

If the Business Contact Manager client cannot establish a connection to the
remote instance of Business Contact Manager, you may receive an error message
that resembles the following in Business Contact Manager when you try to
connect to the server:

Cannot access the database server on computer Computer_Name


This error message may indicate the following possible problems:
• The destination server is unavailable or the Business Contact Manager
instance is not running.
• The Microsoft Firewall or a third-party firewall is blocking access to the
SQL server.
• The database has not been shared for the user who is trying to access the
server. This issue may occur if the Business Contact Manager client and
server are in different workgroups or domains. For more information, see the
section "Business Contact Manager database sharing configurations"
"

 

[Luther]

After putting in a call to Microsoft's support I was able to get this working.

It was windows firewall setting.

1. Open Control Panel and Windows Firewall
2. click on the exceptions tab
3. Find "Microsoft small business" and click edit (port should be 5356 TCP)
4. Then click Change Scope.
5. Then select "Any computer including those on the internet"

This then allowed traffic from the branch offices that were on a different
subnet to access this port and the database.

Here is another article that they referred me to that may help this or other
connection problems you may be having.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901164

---------------------------------------------------------------------------­---------------------
Here is some information the support agent email me that also may help.

"Verify the connection to the SQL database
To verify that the Business Contact Manager client can establish a
connection to a shared Business Contact Manager database, follow these steps:
1.      Log on the Business Contact Manager client computer as a Windows user
who is granted access to the database on the Business Contact Manager server.
2.      Click Start , click Run , type cmd , and then click OK .
3.      At the command prompt, type the following command and then press ENTER:
C:\>sqlcmd –E -S Server_Name \mssmlbiz,5356

Note sqlcmd switches are case-sensitive. Server_Name is the name of the
Business Contact Manager server.
When you run this command, the Business Contact Manager Client tries to
connect directly to the remote SQL instance. If the client can establish a
connection to the remote instance of Business Contact Manager, an OSQL
command prompt appears. An OSQL command prompt is indicated by "1>".

The appearance of an OSQL command prompt indicates the following:
•     The client computer can communicate with the Business ContactManager
database.
•     The Business Contact Manager database is successfully configured for
sharing.
•     The user who performs the test from the Business Contact Manager client is
successfully granted permissions to access the database.
A successful connection to a remote instance of Business Contact Manager
will appear as follows:
C:\> sqlcmd –E -S Server_Name\mssmlbiz,5356 1>

If the Business Contact Manager client cannot establish a connection to the
remote instance of Business Contact Manager, you may receive an error message
that resembles the following in Business Contact Manager when you try to
connect to the server:

Cannot access the database server on computer Computer_Name

This error message may indicate the following possible problems:
•     The destination server is unavailable or the Business ContactManager
instance is not running.
•     The Microsoft Firewall or a third-party firewall is blocking access to the
SQL server.
•     The database has not been shared for the user who is trying to access the
server. This issue may occur if the Business Contact Manager client and
server are in different workgroups or domains. For more information, see the
section "Business Contact Manager database sharing configurations"
"










- Show quoted text -

Thanks for letting us know.