Resolving the error ‘An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host’

Have you been getting this error while connecting to SQL Server?

‘An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host’

Here are some possible reasons and solutions for this error :

- The version of SQL Native Client used on the client computer is not up to date. Try updating the SQL Native Client.

- Use the SQL Server Surface Area Configuration tool to make sure SQL Server is configured to accept remote connections.

- Connection pooling can be enabled and the server closes the connection due to the result of a restart or network failure. Sometimes connecting again solves the issue. Also ask the administrator if number of connections are being limited. Check this link if you facing issues from a web application

- At times there could be a problem with the Network Infrastructure. Contact your network administrator to investigate if packets are being sent across.

- If you receive this error on a Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows Server 2003 Scalable Networking Pack (SNP) that has a TCP/IP Offload-enabled network adapter, check this KB article

These KB articles may prove helpful too -

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919710

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948496

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914277

About The Author

Suprotim Agarwal, MCSD, MCAD, MCDBA, MCSE, is the founder of DotNetCurry, DNC Magazine for Developers, SQLServerCurry and DevCurry. He has also authored a couple of books 51 Recipes using jQuery with ASP.NET Controls and a new one recently at The Absolutely Awesome jQuery CookBook.

Suprotim has received the prestigous Microsoft MVP award for nine times in a row now. In a professional capacity, he is the CEO of A2Z Knowledge Visuals Pvt Ltd, a digital group that represents premium web sites and digital publications comprising of Professional web, windows, mobile and cloud developers, technical managers, and architects.

Get in touch with him on Twitter @suprotimagarwal, LinkedIn or befriend him on Facebook