Remote admin of SQL Server with Port 1433 closed

  • First let me say that my knowledge of networking is very limited so I probably will sound ignorant, but...

    My SQL Server production DB is 2 states away at a hosting facility. I do most administration through the client tools. The firewall administrator at the hosting facility wants to close port 1433. Am I wrong to assume that this would shut down my remote access to the server? Should I/could I configure SQL Server to listen on another port to be able to retain my access without moving or communting 3 hours a day?

    The database is the back-end to a web site using Cold Fusion. I'm not sure how the application would be affected either.

  • Use client network utility to configure your machine to listen to the port number the firewall administrator assign to you.

    I don't know how ColdFusion connects to database but you may also need to make similar changes for it.

    Edited by - Allen_Cui on 02/13/2003 09:49:56 AM

    Edited by - Allen_Cui on 02/13/2003 09:50:44 AM

  • Contact the admin and see if he can assign a different port for you to connect through.

    You might mention Steve's idea too.

    If they are set up for VPN's he could offer you a connection in that way.

    First things first, contact the admin and see what they suggest.

    Is the web-server that connects to the database server behind the same firewall?

    Mark

  • If the SQL Server is on a different system than the Cold Fusion server, you'll need to configure the client to recognize the port change. I can't speak for Cold Fusion, but in OLEDB, you can do this by specifying the port after the server... For instance, here I specify a connection to port 7777:

    
    
    oConn.ConnectionString = "PROVIDER=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=MyServer,7777;Integrated Security=SSPI;Initial Catalog=Northwind;"

    Alternately, you can run cliconfg on the web server and create an alias for the SQL Server pointing to the new port. Then refer to the alias when attempting to connect to the SQL Server.

    Will the firewall administrator open a different port for you?

    K. Brian Kelley

    http://www.truthsolutions.com/

    Author: Start to Finish Guide to SQL Server Performance Monitoring

    http://www.netimpress.com/shop/product.asp?ProductID=NI-SQL1

    K. Brian Kelley
    @kbriankelley

  • Thanks so much for the responses.

    I just found out that simply configuring SQL Server to work on another port won't work either. They are closing everything and allowing by exception. They said they would put in rules for certain addresses, but my IP is behind another firewall which displays only the router IP, not my individual one. They may not want to put that router IP in a rule because that would leave the connection open for hundreds, maybe thousands. Any ideas???

  • Hm,

    I'd talk to your admin who takes care of the firewall.

    See if he can provide a static external IP that maps to your internal IP.

    If he/she can do that for you, you could provide the other admin with this static external IP and he could allow you through.

    Depending on what type of equipment you are using you may or may not be able to do this.

    Talk to your admins and see what they say.

    Mark

  • There's also an ASP.NET version of Enterprise Manager currently in alpha testing. You can get this at http://sourceforge.net/projects/asp-ent-man/

    -bp

  • What about using a VPN, then terminal servicing in?

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