Enabling the TCP/IP protocol in the SQL Server Configuration Utility to Configure SQL Server Express 2005 for Remote Access

server protocols in server configuration manager
Figure 1 - Server Protocols in Server Configuration Manager

enable tcp ip
Figure 2 - Enable TCP/IP

On the IP Addresses tab, you will probably see several sections - one for each network connection. In the example below there is only one network card (listed in the first section) and a local loopback connection indicated by the standard address of 127.0.0.1 For remote access to the SQL Server Express 2005 instance the loopback connection is of no interest.

The first section is where the configuration has to be correct. Active option should say Yes as should the Enabled option. The IP address will probably be filled in for you (by Windows) and will be different on your machine.

If you wish to enable dynamic ports for your SQL Server Express 2005 instance, then the TCP Dynamic Ports option should be 0. To disable this option and use a fixed port change this field to a blank value and fill in the port on the TCP Port option. Disabling dynamic ports is non-standard for named instances and should really only be done if you know exactly what you are doing and why you want to do it.

Note: Dynamic ports means that the SQL Server Express 2005 instance gets assigned a random port every time it is started up. In order to connect, the remote client needs to know this port. It asks the Server Browser for the port number (the Server Browser has a well-known and unchanging port configuration so it can always be found). The upshot is that if dynamic ports are used then the Server Browser must be started.

ip addresses settings
Figure 3 - IP Addresses settings

FAQs

What kind of communication ports and protocols are used? Should I open any ports on my firewall?

The software listens on TCP Ports 9500-9503. All ports can be blocked on your firewall.

  • TCP Port 9500 (protocol SMPP), provides SMPP client connectivity
  • TCP Port 9501 (protocol HTTP), is used for Administration (HTTP interface for web browsers)
  • TCP Port 9502 (protocol TCP/HTTP), is used by .NET Remoting client connectivity
  • TCP Port 9503 (protocol HTTP), is used by ParlayX webservice client connectivity

More information