ADO.NET Connection Pooling & SQLServer

Question

• What is it?
• How do I implement connection pooling with MS SQL?
• What are the performance ramifications when
• Executing ma

Answer 1

A little more info on the connection pooling thing... you're using it already with SqlClient, but only if your connection string is identical for each new connection you open. My understanding is that the framework will pool connections automatically when it can, but if the connection string varies even slightly from one connection to the next, then the new connection won't come from the pool - it gets created anew (so it's more expensive).

You can use the Performance Monitor app with XP/Vista to watch SQL connections and you'll see pretty quickly whether or not pooling is being used. Look under the ".NET CLR Data" category" in Performance Monitor.