Active Directory Federated Services AND SQL Server

  • Hello all
    I see our ADFS servers coming in the list of SQL Servers when browsing for SQL Servers to connect to in SSMS.
    Looking in the ADFS I see nothing SQL related on them.
    Perhaps a few shared files that triggers the SQL browser that this is a SQL Server?
    There is nothing wrong, broken, malfunctioning..... but I am curious to know why they are showing up as SQL Servers.
    Has anyone had this before, any ideas please.
    Thank you, as always.

  • h.iddamalgoda 91897 - Tuesday, February 28, 2017 4:24 AM

    Hello all
    I see our ADFS servers coming in the list of SQL Servers when browsing for SQL Servers to connect to in SSMS.
    Looking in the ADFS I see nothing SQL related on them.
    Perhaps a few shared files that triggers the SQL browser that this is a SQL Server?
    There is nothing wrong, broken, malfunctioning..... but I am curious to know why they are showing up as SQL Servers.
    Has anyone had this before, any ideas please.
    Thank you, as always.

    Once awhile back but I ignored it.
    With 2.0 or around there, they moved from using XML files for the configuration info to using SQL Server to store the configuration data. So it does use SQL.

    Sue

  • Thank you Sue.
    Yes I agree with you that uses a database for ADFS config stuff and being Microsoft it is a SQL server database.
    However, there are no visible shared files neither the usual Visual Studio bits that you would see in program features. So the DB engine may be embedded in ADFS. What is interesting is to know what the SQL server list in SSMS looks at to identify what your SQL Servers are.
    Because this information is a bit misleading. In that, this SQL Server cannot be part of a DBA responsibility. I mean my colleagues when they rolled out ADFS didn't know this and neither did I.
    I agree we can safely ignore it but I would like to know more about it.

  • h.iddamalgoda 91897 - Tuesday, February 28, 2017 8:23 AM

    Thank you Sue.
    Yes I agree with you that uses a database for ADFS config stuff and being Microsoft it is a SQL server database.
    However, there are no visible shared files neither the usual Visual Studio bits that you would see in program features. So the DB engine may be embedded in ADFS. What is interesting is to know what the SQL server list in SSMS looks at to identify what your SQL Servers are.
    Because this information is a bit misleading. In that, this SQL Server cannot be part of a DBA responsibility. I mean my colleagues when they rolled out ADFS didn't know this and neither did I.
    I agree we can safely ignore it but I would like to know more about it.

    It's just the SQL Server Browser service. You can see that with WSUS databases sometimes as well when they are broadcasting and on the same network segment as you.
    The same thing is explained in this article (and probably a lot more - just pulled up a quick reference): 
    Browse for Servers
    But I'm confused as to what shared files or VS bits would have to do with this. There are a lot of infrastructure components that will use one edition or another of SQL Server. I've never seen the DBAs be responsible for those. Each of those components has it's own interface for working with the application which would be tied to the database. Most of those components have database setting or options to select when installing.
    You'd want to dig through all the ADFS documentation to find more information on the database it uses.

    Sue

  • I think you have answered my question, Sue. Thank you.
    I had often wondered what it is that the SQL browser might be looking for: UDP port 1434.
    So I guess anything listening on 1434 is picked up buy the SQL Browser.
    Thanks so much, great stuff.

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