INF: How to Troubleshoot SQL Server Communication Error 17832

SUMMARY

Under certain situations, Microsoft SQL Server may log the following error either in its errorlog or in the Windows NT event log:

This error occurs if a client starts to connect but never successfully completes the attempt because of a client operating system, application, or network failure. Wide area networks (WANs) are more susceptible than local area networks (LANs) to this type of problem, because such networks often have many routers and other network devices that can delay data packet delivery and/or cause other difficulties in the delivery of data packets due to improper packet fragmentation or misrouting.

However, the very occurrence of these errors in the errorlog or event log does not necessarily indicate any real problems with your SQL Server connectivity. Even in normal operations, this error may still occur at times, due to the unreliable nature of networks, especially wide area networks. In addition, improper use of applications (such as restarting the computer in the middle of a login process) can also cause this error to occur.

To determine whether or not you are facing a real problem, you may want to check the following:

1. Check with the end users to see whether they have experienced any difficulties in making connections to SQL Server. If nobody reports any connectivity problems, you can usually ignore these errors.
2. Check the frequency of this error in the errorlog. If it occurs very frequently, it indicates some potential problems, even if no one is complaining about any connectivity problems.

If you have determined that you have a real problem, you may want to apply the additional troubleshooting methods described in the remainder of this article.