Managing SQL Server remotely

I've combed through SQL Help to find the answer to my question but I think it's telling me it can't be done. I work both from an office with my servers and from home. When I'm at home I would like to access my SQL server remotely using a tool such as MS SQL Server Management Studio. But it appears there is no way to access my SQL Server for management purposes using Management Studio over a remote internet connection. I can access the server using Management Studio while I'm on the internal office network but not from home.

Has anyone been able to do this or might recommend a third party tool as robust as Management Studio?

Thanks

From what I know, either you can remote into that machine and manage your SQL Server, or if your SQL Server has a dedicated IP you can register the server on your local machine and manage the server from there.

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I can find no place in Management Studio (linked or registered) to enter an IP number? If anyone stumbles on documentation to pull this off I'd sure appreciate it. It appears all references to 'remote' in the help files means within the same internal network.

Again, a third party tool is doable.

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I used File > Connect Object Explorer..., and in the 'Server Name' field, typed the IP of my Database server.

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So you have been able to connect to SQL off your network usng Management Studio. That is good news. However, I keep getting errors but I probably don't have all my ducks in a row on settings. I tried a raw IP, then raw IP with server name (67.81.4.38/ServerName) and then with the http (http://67.81.4.38/SeverName) and still no luck.

I get the feeling I need to open a port or two on the server. Some documentation sure would help. I'll keep at it but if anyone knows of some good documentation please let me know. Thanks.

TITLE: Connect to Server
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Cannot connect to XX.XX.XX.X.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server 2005, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server) (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 2)

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Hi,

You may try these steps below.

1, Enable the remote connection of your SQLServer. Start->Microsoft SQL Server 2005->Configuration Tools->SQL Server Configuration Manager-> select SQL Server 2005 Network Configuration, right click on the "TCP/IP", enabled.

2, you can use ping command to check if the remote server can be accessible
3, because the default port of SqlServer is 1433. So you can use telnet command (such as telnet x.x.x.x 1433) to check if the port works. If error occurs in this step, you may
try to check the following issue:

1) If the SqlServer service is running on your remote machine
2) Check if the SQL Server port number is 1433. (If not, you may use your customerize port and retry step2 ).
3) Open your firewall, check if the 1433 port has been forbidden.

4, Try to use enterprise manager or query analyzer to connect the romote server.If the error still occurs, maybe the authentication mode on your remote SqlServer is Windows Authentication Only.You should enable the SqlServer authentication and restart yourSqlServer. (Right click on your server node, choose properties, switch to security tab, choose "SQL Server and Windows Authentication Mode")

Hope that helps. Thanks.

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Thank you so much. I'm going to go in tomorrow and try it out. You'll probably be hearing back from me.