To configure a client to use TCP/IP (Client Network Utility)Microsoft® SQL Server™ supports client communication with the TCP/IP network protocol using standard Windows Sockets.
Important The TCP/IP Sockets Net-Libraries have been extensively tested on supported platforms for connecting to SQL Server. If you have purchased a non-TCP/IP Sockets network protocol from a third-party vendor, and want to use it to connect to SQL Server, the connection should work if the protocol properly supports TCP/IP Sockets. However, the use of third-party TCP/IP protocols on these platforms is not guaranteed. The protocol provider should test and state their support policy. You can test to see if your sockets are functioning by using the ping command from a command prompt.
The TCP/IP Sockets Net-Library does not support server enumeration (listing servers). From DB-Library applications that can list servers by calling dbservernum, you cannot identify servers running SQL Server and listening on the TCP/IP Sockets Net-Library.
Microsoft Windows NT® version 3.5 or later provides easy administration of large TCP/IP networks by offering the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service for automatic TCP/IP configuration, and the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) for dynamic mapping of network names and addresses. This enables users to operate in large-scale TCP/IP networking environments with little administrative support.
If your network has a DHCP service and WINS, you can use computer names to specify a connection to a server. If your network does not have these services, then you should specify the server using the IP address.
To configure a client to use TCP/IP (Client Network Utility)
