Error Connecting to Enterprise Geodatabase (SQL Server)

[Peter_Green]

Good afternoon.

Our organisation runs Enterprise 11.3. Our data is held in an Enterprise Geodatabase hosted in an Azure SQL Logical Server.

For many years we have accessed the data in the SQL database using SDE connections in ArcGIS Pro from various Azure VDIs without any significant issues. We are now looking to enable access to the same database from local workstations using the same SDE connections but are having mixed results.

More often than not when attempting to connect to the database we receive a somewhat generic error message: "Failure to access the DBMS server []". While at other times we are able to connect using the same connection file without any issues - we can see and load the data. There's no apparent rhyme or reason as to when it will or won't connect. In come cases, it's a matter or waiting for a period of time and it will connect.

We have tried connecting from various workstations, all with the same mixed results. We are able to ping the SQL server instance, which is always successful with virtually no delays. 

Just wondering if anyone has had this experience and can suggest any solutions. 

Thank you

Peter

[VinceAngelo]

This feels like a networking issue, possibly a flighty router. If you can reproduce the behavior with a simple ODBC connection app then it's not Pro-specific and may help you diagnose the issue.

- V

[George_Thompson]

I would also check to see if SSMS can access the SQL instance / DB when you have the connection issue in Pro from the same machine. This may help narrow down the issue.

I would also note that we usually recommend that accessing a cloud database from a "local" workstation may have a sub-optimal user experience. We recommend that the ArcGIS Pro client is in the same "location" as the Enterprise Geodatabase (i.e., same local network (building) or same cloud provider / region).

Here is some doc that mentions this: https://doc.esri.com/en/arcgis-enterprise-cloud-tools/latest/azure/database-requirements-azure-sql-d...

Here is the AWS doc also (for reference): https://doc.esri.com/en/arcgis-enterprise-cloud-tools/latest/amazon/geodatabases-and-arcgis-server-o...

Hope this helps!

[Peter_Green]

Thank you for your advice @George_Thompson and @VinceAngelo . Very helpful and much appreciated. We'll take this all into consideration going forward. We're still troubleshooting this, but it looks as though our VPN is potentially causing some of the connection issues. Disabling it seems to provide a more reliable connection. We'll plug away at this and when we find a definitive solution I will update the post with the solution.