web hosting limits: ways in ASP.NET to allow connection to remote database systems?

I recently signed up for shared web hosting with a commercial hosting
service (GoDaddy.com) and was awed to discover that although a generous SQL
Server database package is included, there is not an easy way to connect
ASP.NET web applications to database servers running outside of the host's
systems. Indeed, many ports are blocked: I think the only open ports are 80
and 25.

Surely there is some way around this that I could manage in programming
and/or via infrastructure magic. I'm running SQL Server 2005 on both ends,
and have total control over the server/db server on my end.

Can someone suggest if there is a viable approach to somehow "wrap" database
calls in a way that isn't totally slow and a total mess to work with? Does
the .NET platform anticipate this kind of problem and have anything
prebuilt?

Thanks for any ideas. The best answer will probably be to have all of my
apps and database stuff encapsulated on my host, but there's some testing
that needs to happen between now and final deployment, and I'd prefer to
have my database wired up for now.

-KF

[=?Utf-8?B?UGV0ZXIgQnJvbWJlcmcgW0MjIE1WUF0=?=]

I am afraid that the solution here is to dump godaddy.com and find another
hoster. It didn't take me more than 10 minutes to dump them when I found out
I could not even make an HTTPWebRequest from the site I deployed due to their
ridiculous restrictions.

For a comparable deal on pricing and features, without the stupid
restrictions, you can try Gate.com or Crystaltech.com
Peter
--
Recursion: see Recursion
site: http://www.eggheadcafe.com
unBlog: http://petesbloggerama.blogspot.com
bogMetaFinder: http://www.blogmetafinder.com

"ke*****@nospam.nospam" wrote:

>
I recently signed up for shared web hosting with a commercial hosting
service (GoDaddy.com) and was awed to discover that although a generous SQL
Server database package is included, there is not an easy way to connect
ASP.NET web applications to database servers running outside of the host's
systems. Indeed, many ports are blocked: I think the only open ports are 80
and 25.

Surely there is some way around this that I could manage in programming
and/or via infrastructure magic. I'm running SQL Server 2005 on both ends,
and have total control over the server/db server on my end.

Can someone suggest if there is a viable approach to somehow "wrap" database
calls in a way that isn't totally slow and a total mess to work with? Does
the .NET platform anticipate this kind of problem and have anything
prebuilt?

Thanks for any ideas. The best answer will probably be to have all of my
apps and database stuff encapsulated on my host, but there's some testing
that needs to happen between now and final deployment, and I'd prefer to
have my database wired up for now.

-KF

[Mark Rae [MVP]]

"Peter Bromberg [C# MVP]" <pb*******@yahoo.yohohhoandabottleofrum.comwrote
in message news:9A**********************************@microsof t.com...

>I am afraid that the solution here is to dump godaddy.com and find another
hoster. It didn't take me more than 10 minutes to dump them when I found
out
I could not even make an HTTPWebRequest from the site I deployed due to
their
ridiculous restrictions.

Absolutely! I've never known any developer with a good word to say about
this ISP...
--
Mark Rae
ASP.NET MVP
http://www.markrae.net

[Mark Rae [MVP]]

<ke*****@nospam.nospamwrote in message
news:e1**************@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

Surely there is some way around this

Not so long as you continue to use GoDaddy...
--
Mark Rae
ASP.NET MVP
http://www.markrae.net

Thanks again, guys. I didn't know about those, and yes, they matter quite a
bit for our work.

I will say a few good words about GoDaddy based on my experiences with them
over the last year. GoDaddy has been a very reliable host, and their
customer service is responsive. Their online tools are reasonably intuitive.
I like their FAQ and their prices are excellent.

That all said the shared hosting seems best for "dumb" deployments of static
content. The restrictions make life very difficult for any kind of advanced
deployment that involves your application communicating with other places.
The inability to connect to SQL Server databases via Enterprise manager is
not a show-stopper, but it makes life much, much harder than it should be.

I would appreciate hearing other recommendations that folks might have for
web hosts.

Thanks,
-KF

"Mark Rae [MVP]" <ma**@markNOSPAMrae.netwrote in message
news:Oj**************@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

"Peter Bromberg [C# MVP]" <pb*******@yahoo.yohohhoandabottleofrum.com>
wrote in message
news:9A**********************************@microsof t.com...

>>I am afraid that the solution here is to dump godaddy.com and find another
hoster. It didn't take me more than 10 minutes to dump them when I found
out
I could not even make an HTTPWebRequest from the site I deployed due to
their
ridiculous restrictions.

Absolutely! I've never known any developer with a good word to say about
this ISP...
--
Mark Rae
ASP.NET MVP
http://www.markrae.net

[Mark Rae [MVP]]

<ke*****@nospam.nospamwrote in message
news:ul**************@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

I would appreciate hearing other recommendations that folks might have for
web hosts.

http://www.hostinguk.net
--
Mark Rae
ASP.NET MVP
http://www.markrae.net