Q:  Our team has 4 people, 2 of which are web developers who use PHP to get data by using stored procedures from database. When the four of us use the system at the same time in the afternoon, SQL Server will come down. Also, at the same time, we can’t open ‘Enterprise Manager’. If we wait about 20 minutes, the system will be OK. We don’t know why this happens - why does the system lock? How can we check this out? (We are running SQL Server 2000)

Jason Hall says:  There are a couple of things that may be going on.

1) It is possible that your SQL Server or Windows OS license only allows a certain number of CALs (Client Access Licenses). If your license is capped at 4 connections, SQL Server will reject any connection made untill one of the connected users disconnects. I would check your SQL Server licensing and check your server configuraiton parameters to see if anything has been set to limit the number of concurrent connections.

2) If there is nothing in the license or server properties that would be limiting connections it is possible that the system is so overloaded that a new connection cannot be processed.
If you cannot even make a connection to the server than there is something seriously wrong with your database server. I would recommend running a diagnostic test of SQL Server to try and get a handle on what is causing these performance bottlenecks. Possibly some query is consuming so much CPU that it is causing the server to hang and reject new connections. Try running a Microsoft Profiler trace, this might help in isolating where the system hang is originating from.

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Q:  I am using SQL server and i configured a dts package that imports paradox database to my sql 2000 i scheduled the dts package for 3 times a day but it gives an unknown error that i can only trace in event logs and i cant get detailed error messages to fix it.Where can i learn what is wrong with my sql job or dts package ? where can i get a detailed error message??

Kevin Kline says:  Well, you didn’t submit the error number on this, which would be more helpful, but in the meanwhile, here’s a general troubleshooting process to follow:

1. Write down the error number. If you don’t have the error number, write down as much of the error as possible.
2. Press Ctrl-PrtSc to save a screenshot of the error msg to the clipboard. Save it in Paint for later reference.
3. Go to http://support.microsoft.com
4. Click the hyperlink “Switch to Advanced Search” in the upper right corner of the frame. Then:
A. In the “Search Product” box, enter SQL Server, SQL Server 2000, or SQL Server 2005.
B. In the “For” box, enter the error number and/or the error message.
C. You should be able to leave the rest of the choices as-is.
D. Make sure that Include boxes are checked: How-to Articles, Downloads, Troubleshooting, Guided Help, MSDN content, TechNet Content.
5. Click Search.

Now, look at the links that are returned and choose the one(s) that work best for your problem.

Hope this helps

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Q:  How to Send the Auto Email in daily or weekly basis for SQL Server 2000 / 2005?

Kevin Kline says:  Depending on the version of SQL Server you’re using, all you need to do is invoke either the xp_sendmail or sp_processmail stored procedure to send mail. That assumes, of course, that you have SQL Mail or Database Mail properly running on the SQL Server instance. All you have to do once you have the stored procedure is set it up as a DTS/SSIS task that runs on a daily or weekly basis.

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Q:  We setup a server (running Server 2003) with MS SQL Server 2005. The database we created has been in use for the past several months. I wanted to schedule regular backups but the “Maintenance Plan” option under “Management” does not appear at all in the Object Explorer! I can manually backup a database fine but a daily scheduled backup would be much nicer. I have Googled the problem several times with no success. So I guess my entire question boils down to “how do I get into the Maintenance Plan if it does not appear?”

Iain Kick says:  It sounds as if you are using SQL Server Express edition.  This does not have a SQL Server Agent so you cannot schedule jobs against SQL Server. If so upgrade to the Standard or Enterprise editions and this functionality will be enabled.

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Q:  How can I send mail through SQL Server? I am developing Web Base Application where if any employee doesnot login the site for more 10 days then I have to send mail to all Admin Users. Someone suggested me that u can schedule a job in SQL Server and also send mail to Admin Users. I am using ASP.NET2.0(VB) and backend as SQL Server 2000. Please help, thanks

Bryan Oliver says:   Here are three different suggestions for sending emails all work as I have used them all. The first is avaiable on the SQLdev website, the second an article on the SQLTeam site and finally an option that is avialable through the Microsoft knowledge base.

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Q:  We experieced a timeout of an operation. The timeout period elapsed prior to completion of the operation and the server is not responding. This error message appeared even after the connection timeout changed to 100 & max pool size given 100. Can you help how to improve performance?

Bryan Oliver says:  Hmmm…that begs a few questions: How are you connecting to SQL Server? Through ADO, ADO.net or some other third party connector? I your timeout could be caused by blocking. To check for blocking run sp_who2 in QA to see what process is blocking another one.
Look at “blocks, avoiding” in SQL Server BOL. You can also check Microsoft support’s knowledge base here or this article at eggheadcafe.com

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Q:  An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server 2005, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server) (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 53)

Iain Kick says:  By default SQL Server 2005 does not allow remote connections. Enable these using the Surface Area Configuration tool.

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