SQL Server Performance Forum – Threads Archive

Server box access

Another company services and supports our servers and network. I have a VNC or Remote Desktop connection to my serevers. I develop/modify my DTS packages on the server box. I review the box’s event viewer, too. The company is going to take my access to the production server. They don’t want any direct access to the server. Do you think this may affect my work? Does a DBA need direct access to the server box? What about the reasons that I am using the VNC? Can I do them remotly? CanadaDBA

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As long as someone from network can extend the direct access to the server and you can see the server from Enterprise manager its fine to take it. VNC is an open-source platform-independent remote control software application that is well supported by its user community. The VNC software and its documentation are available as a free download from AT&T Laboratories Cambridge’s VNC Web site athttp://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc. I don’t recommend using third-party remote control software for systems management when you can use Terminal Services. Satya SKJ
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Agree. Except Terminal Services impact more, in performance terms, than VNC.
Luis Martin
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True but you should not use TS or any remote connection application continuously to SQL Server, and should use only when there is a utmost condition to satisfy. For that reason Enterprise Manager, Query analyzer and other tools are provided to tackle the scene remotely. Satya SKJ
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Thanks Satya,
I didn’t know Remote Desktop Connection is a third-party software. I thought Microsoft has provided it instead of Terminal Services.

CanadaDBA

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Satya / Luis, What about regarding Event Viewer? Do you ever read it? If you do, How? Do you ever access your server screen?
CanadaDBA

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Regarding event viewer, I think the only way is via terminal services o VNC, but event viewer is more for server administrators than sql administrators. Luis Martin
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It’s very important for DBAs though. Provided you are a System Admin on the SQL Server, you can view the event viewer though from SQL Server, so no big deal. MeanOldDBA
[email protected] When life gives you a lemon, fire the DBA.

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You can view event viewer & SQL SErver error log remotely without local logon to the SQL server. From Start –> Run –> eventvwr \servername which displays the system/security/application log for that server. Moreover I don’t agree EV is for System Admins, DBA has got equal responsibility on the SQL Server and alongwith SQL server error log event viewer log is also important in order to get further details about the network or any H/w on that box. I hardly logon physically to the SQL Server once in a month for MI purpose and other than that everytime the SQL server is administered remotely using EM, EV tools etc.
Satya SKJ
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Thank you falks. Your messages helped me a lot. Specially about reading EV remotely.<br /><br />Regarding System Admins and DBA responsibility, I had to notify them two time in last two months. Once the server was too slow and I noticed that it is too fragmented. Then they setup a nightly defrag. Another time, I found my backup was failed and then noticed the harddisk has no space available!! Although, My settings for a deployment week had caused that situation! <img src=’/community/emoticons/emotion-5.gif’ alt=’‘ /><br /><br />Satya, what is MI in "… once in a month for MI purpose and …"?<br /><br /><br /><br />CanadaDBA

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Its good to learn from the mistakes and take preventive measures. MI – Marketing Information for one of the service, we have a DTS package to be changed/scheduled once in every month because the client tools we’ve is SQL 2000 and Server is in still ver.7. Satya SKJ
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Even you go to the server box itself to change/re-schedule the DTS? I thought, I am going wrong way with this approach. I’ll post a question in this regard on DTS section.
CanadaDBA

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Only for this server we need to logon locally onto the SQL Server because we do not have SQL 7 client installed in our area. If I schedule the job using SQL 2K client tools the job will be failed with error ‘Encryption not supported…..’. Satya SKJ
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Got it, Satya. Thanks. I tried EVENTVWR \ServerName with IP address or ServerName and both failed because of Access Denied. It didn’t prompt me for user id and password for that server. I couldn’t find any description on Windows help for EVENTVWR. I tried MMC console but still the problem exists. CanadaDBA

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If you should have access or not depends on the SLA I would say. Are the company you host the servers at responsible for the uptime? Do they deliver managed hosting and perform updates? Do they take resposibility for the SQL Service and backups? If they are responsible for the uptime etc. of the server I can understand why they don’t want you to have access to the box.<br /><br />If they on the other hand are not repsonsible I would insist on having access to the box. Especially if they don’t perform any basic monitoring of the server that reports back to you or a team at their place. Which they don’t seem to do after reading you saying:<br />"Another time, I found my backup was failed and then noticed the harddisk has no space available!!"<br /><br />If you have to find that out by actually logging in to the box that doesn’t sounds good to me <img src=’/community/emoticons/emotion-1.gif’ alt=’‘ /><br /><br />If the servers are located at another company do you connect to the servers through Internet, LAN or a VPN? If you are not on a LAN or VPN basis with the servers there is no way that accessing the servers with \servername will work. A firewall is most likely blocking the RPC traffic needed against the internet and it could very well be blocking it on the LAN or VPN connection as well.<br /><br />If they are not blocking traffic you need to connect with an administrator account to be able to view the event logs with EVENTVWR \ServerName (The remote registry service might have to be started on the server as well).

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Thanks Argyle!
I am connected to the server through VPN. I can run VNC and connect to the server. My EM and QA have access to the server, too. Does it mean that "they are not blocking traffic"? But EV dosen’t ask me for an ID and password. Shouldn’t it ask? Or probebly, I have to login the server using My Network Places? I am not sure about "The remote registry service" has been started or not. Can I check it by opening the server’s Services window? Or how?
Thanks,

CanadaDBA

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It means they are not blocking traffic for VNC and SQL Server. If they block other traffic is hard to say without testing. To test if RPC trafic works open a command prompt on your workstation and type "telnet x.x.x.x 135" where x.x.x.x is your servers ip. If you get a blank screen and not a connection error it’s open. You can test other ports the same way.
It will not ask for password. You will get a access denied message directly. You need to connect with an account that is administrator on the server to use most of the MMC tools, view event logs and services remotely from another computer.
Yes, just open Administrative Tools -> Services on the server and check.

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Does it mean I creat a user id in my local desktop with same name (and probably same password) as what I have in my production? i.e. If I have SQLAdmin in production then I creat it on my local? Then login to my local with this id and try to use EVENTVWR \servername ? CanadaDBA

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Even though if it mentions Access Denied on the first instance, try to view the system or application log. We have similar problem when the SQL server is behind the firewall and it usually displays message ‘Access Denied’ initially but we are able to view the logs eventually. Satya SKJ
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I used the following commands and got these messages: eventvwr \MachineName.something.something.COM
The format of specified computer name is invalid. eventvwr \MachineName
The network path was not found. eventvwr \1.2.3.4
Access is denied. I created the SQLAdmin (as a member of admins) on my local but I couldn’t log in to network. I was able to login only in my local. CanadaDBA

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After the ‘access denied’ message were able to open the application or security log for that specified server. Satya SKJ
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No, I was not able. It doesn’t show me.I think that’s because my local id has no access to the server. I asked our net admins to look at this and create my id on the server or they might send me the logs everyday.
CanadaDBA

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