Microsoft SQL Server is a high-end database platform designed to handle multiple concurrent users and high load environments. It is the ideal replacement for your Microsoft Access database when your web site out grows the capabilities of the Microsoft Access database engine.

Installing Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server can be installed using the SQL Server page, click ‘Install Microsoft SQL Server’. You will be asked to specify the type of server you wish to create the database upon, and the SQL Server database password. Click on ‘Next’ to proceed. You will have the opportunity to review your request before your Microsoft SQL Server database is created. Click ‘Install Microsoft SQL Server’.

Changing Microsoft SQL Server Password
You may modify the password for your Microsoft SQL Server database. Click ‘Change Microsoft SQL Server Password’ on the SQL Server page, enter the new password into both boxes displayed and click ‘Change Microsoft SQL Server Password’. Your Microsoft SQL Server database password will be updated immediately.

Uninstalling Microsoft SQL Server
If you have installed Microsoft SQL Server and no longer need it, it can be uninstalled using the SQL Server page, click ‘Remove Microsoft SQL Server’. You will be asked to confirm the action before Microsoft SQL Server is actually removed from your account. On confirmation your Microsoft SQL Server database including all its contents will be erased.

Accessing Microsoft SQL Server
To access your Microsoft SQL Server database, use the following credentials.

The database server hostname you connect to depends upon whether you are accessing the database server from an ASP page on one of our web servers or from an external machine outside our network.

When accessing the database server from an ASP page on our web server, use the hostname ‘mssqlX’ where X is the number of the database server your database is hosted on which you can obtain from the SQL Server page. You should connect on the standard SQL server port number which generally means there is no need to implicitly specify a port number. A suitable ASP connection string would therefore be as follows.

“Provider=SQLOLEDB; Data Source=mssqlX; Initial Catalog=db; User ID=userid; Password=PASSWORD; Network Library=dbmssocn;”

Using the abbreviated hostname as shown above for connections from ASP pages ensures that traffic to and from your database travels over our private switched network, yielding maximum performance and availability for your database driven web pages.

When accessing the database server from an external machine, use the hostname mssqlX.turbodns.co.uk where X is the number of the database server your database is hosted on which you can obtain from the SQL Server page. You should connect on the non default port number 5000. You cannot connect to our SQL servers on the standard port number from outside our network as it is blocked by a firewall for security. In Enterprise Manager you can specify the port number by appending the hostname with a comma followed by the port number, or you can change the default port number for your PC using the Client Network Utility.

Notes on Microsoft SQL Server
You will be provided with 100 megabytes of data space. You will be provided with one security login per database, this login will have the privileges db_datareader, db_datawriter and db_ddladmin. You cannot create additional user accounts for your database, nor can you add privileges additional to those aforementioned. Any functionality of Microsoft SQL Server which requires privileges not mentioned or non standard software components including replication and XML will not be available.