When setting up a Microsoft Windows Server 2008 system, I went through the motions to set up IIS, MS SQL Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2010 to use as a test-bed.

One of the immediate benefits of setting up such a system is that most development can be done remotely: MS SQL Server Management Studio, Visual Studio’s Web development suite, as well as file shares, remote desktop, etc, make for a great way to remotely develop in ‘pristine’ conditions.

But there are drawbacks, too, such as needing to deal with firewall issues, not being able to penetrate past a router or the requirement of setting up a VPN.

One of the problems I encountered when trying to remote into the MS SQL Server 2008 that I’d set up was the following error:

I followed the below steps, and was able to connect to the server after just a few moments of tinkering:

1. From the server in question, surf to this Microsoft article, and download and install the Firewall rules modification program. Never drop your firewall, even on a development machine, unless you have a really good reason to.

2. Launch SQL Server Configuration Manager. Navigate to SQL Server Network Configuration, then Protocols for your server name. Enable TCP/IP and Named Pipes by right-clicking and choosing Enable for each given Protocol Name.

3. Restart the SQL Server service from Services (or from command line, subsequently run “net stop mssqlserver” then “net start mssqlserver”.

4. Try your remote connection once more, and you should be able to connect.

It’s not a terribly difficult concept, but one of the more challenging tasks developers face is dealing with environment setup. And while there is a certain blurred-line overlap between software development and server administration, sometimes the latter is daunting, especially given that you might set up only a handful of servers during your career.