Question

How would I set up my database to enable it to be accessed from other computers on my network. I want to create a local website and/or application for my home computers that uses this database.

1. How would I set up the database to be accessed over a home network?
2. How can I create a local website which allows anyone on the network to connect to?

Is it necessary when creating a local website, you’d need to enable world wide services firewall exception(already done)? How can an intranet user address this website?

I’m using SQL Server and ASP.NET.

Answer 1

Your best bet would be to approach it like this:

• install IIS on a machine on the intranet. This will be your intranet web server. Let’s assume it’s named machine1. Usually you won’t need to make a Windows Firewall exception, as the install/config will do this for you. Make sure it’s up and running: http://machine1
• have SQL Server installed on a machine on the intranet. It could be the same as your web server, perhaps not. Let’s call this machine2.
• develop your ASP.NET application. If you choose the default ASP.NET Webforms template, you’ll be using Forms Authentication, and you won’t need to worry about security at this point.
• your ASP.NET site will have a web.config connection string like

Data Source=machine2;Initial Catalog=myDataBase;User Id=myUsername;Password=myPassword;

• deploy/publish the app to the default IIS directory on that server (c:\inetpub\wwwroot). This can be configured later if you like.
• intranet users can browse to http://machine1

This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list, and you may run into a snag or two, depending on your environment.