title: Testing an Entity Framework database connection
body: <p>I have an app that connects to a MYSQL database through the entity framework. It works 100% perfectly, but I would like to add a small piece of code that will test the connection to the database upon app startup.</p>
  
  <p>I had the idea of simply running a tiny command to the database and catching any exceptions, however if there is a problem (eg App.Config missing or Database server down) the app takes a huge amount of time to run this code and then throw the exception (~1 min). I imagine this is due to connection timeouts etc but I have fiddled with such properties to no avail.</p>
  
  <p>Would anyone be able to assist with any ideas as to where to go?</p>