How do I fix the error 'Named Pipes Provider, error 40 - Could not open a connection to' SQL Server'?

Question

I can\'t seem to connect to my database from a site. I get this error:

Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server

Answer 1

A thread on MSDN Social, Re: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server, has a pretty decent list of possible issues that are related to your error. You may want to see if any of them could be what you're experiencing.

• Incorrect connection string, such as using SqlExpress
• Named Pipes(NP) was not enabled on the SQL instance
• Remote connection was not enabled
• Server not started, or point to not a real server in your connection string
• Other reasons such as incorrect security context
• try basic connectivity tests between the two machines you are working on