title: cannot connect to sql database on shared server
body: <p>I have purchased a website that was installed on a dedicated server. I have now moved it to arvixe and was able to successfully restore the database on one of their shared servers. I am able to connect to the server from sql studio management studio 2008 by using the domain name (www.mydomain.com) and the username and password of the database account i setup in the arvixe control panel. However, I am not able to connect to the database with the application. I am able to see pages of the site that do not use the database. The application is using .net 3.5 so I have set the server to .net 2.0 with classic IIS. I have done lots of searching on the web and have read through many forums. I have tried every possible option for connection strings in web.config and still receive this same error: </p>
  
  <h2>Server Error in '/' Application.</h2>
  
  <p>A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified) 
  Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code. </p>
  
  <p>Exception Details: System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified)</p>
  
  <p>Source Error: </p>
  
  <p>An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.</p>
  
  <p>Stack Trace: </p>
  
  <pre><code>[SqlException (0x80131904): A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified)]
     System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection) +4849719
     System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.ThrowExceptionAndWarning(TdsParserStateObject stateObj) +194
     System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.Connect(ServerInfo serverInfo, SqlInternalConnectionTds connHandler, Boolean ignoreSniOpenTimeout, Int64 timerExpire, Boolean encrypt, Boolean trustServerCert, Boolean integratedSecurity, SqlConnection owningObject) +4863021
     System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.AttemptOneLogin(ServerInfo serverInfo, String newPassword, Boolean ignoreSniOpenTimeout, Int64 timerExpire, SqlConnection owningObject) +90
     System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.LoginNoFailover(String host, String newPassword, Boolean redirectedUserInstance, SqlConnection owningObject, SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, Int64 timerStart) +376
     System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.OpenLoginEnlist(SqlConnection owningObject, SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, String newPassword, Boolean redirectedUserInstance) +221
     System.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds..ctor(DbConnectionPoolIdentity identity, SqlConnectionString connectionOptions, Object providerInfo, String newPassword, SqlConnection owningObject, Boolean redirectedUserInstance) +189
     System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnectionFactory.CreateConnection(DbConnectionOptions options, Object poolGroupProviderInfo, DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnection owningConnection) +185
     System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.CreatePooledConnection(DbConnection owningConnection, DbConnectionPool pool, DbConnectionOptions options) +31
     System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.CreateObject(DbConnection owningObject) +433
     System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.UserCreateRequest(DbConnection owningObject) +66
     System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.GetConnection(DbConnection owningObject) +499
     System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionFactory.GetConnection(DbConnection owningConnection) +65
     System.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionClosed.OpenConnection(DbConnection outerConnection, DbConnectionFactory connectionFactory) +117
     System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.Open() +122
        System.Web.Util.CalliHelper.EventArgFunctionCaller(IntPtr fp, Object o, Object t, EventArgs e) +14
     System.Web.Util.CalliEventHandlerDelegateProxy.Callback(Object sender, EventArgs e) +35
     System.Web.UI.Control.OnLoad(EventArgs e) +99
     System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive() +50
     System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +627
  </code></pre>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p>Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:2.0.50727.4223; ASP.NET Version:2.0.50727.4223 </p>
  
  <p>Right now my connection strings are in the following format in web.config. I have one for appsettings and one for connectionstrings and have also added info to applicationsetting.cs:</p>
  
  <pre><code>          &lt;appsettings&gt;
            &lt;add key="ConnStringWebsite" value="SERVER=www.mydomain.com;DATABASE=mydatabase;UID=xxxxx;PWD=xxxxx"/&gt;
            &lt;appsettings/&gt;
            &lt;connectionstrings&gt;
            &lt;add name="FantasyActionConnectionString" connectionString="SERVER=www.mydomain.com;DATABASE=mydatabase;UID=xxxxx;PWD=xxxxx"/&gt;
            &lt;connectionstrings/&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>ApplicationSettings.cs</p>
  
  <pre><code>//Connection String
                  private const string _CONNSERVER = @"www.mydomain.com";
                  private const string _CONNDATABASE = "mydatabase";
                  private const string _CONNUSERID = @"xxxxxx";
                  private const string _CONNPASSWORD = "xxxxxx";
  </code></pre>