Ever have to move your SharePoint databases from one server to another? Or need to update the port number SharePoint is connecting to SQL with? If you did you'll remember a slew of database detaches, reattaches, and STSADM/PSCONFIG commands you need to run to get it all done.
A simpler approach is to setup Aliases to your databases rather than reference them directly when you run the SharePoint Configuration Wizard.
You can create an Alias through the SQL Server Client Network Utility (c:\windows\system32). Notice the figure below shows the alias, in which you can specify the server name (and instance if applicable) and the port to connect over. What you can do is when you run the SharePoint Configuration wizard to create a new farm, rather than entering the server name, enter this alias. Then, if you ever need to migrate your databases to another database server, all you need to do is move the databases and update the alias to point to the new server. No need to run STSADM/SPCONFIG or dropping/recreating the farm. The only downside is you'll need the alias on each web front end in the farm.
STEPS to setup the Alias (repeat on each web front end)
- In C:\windows\system32, open cliconfg
- On the Alias tab, add a new alias to your database server
- Give the alias a name
- enter the server name and instance
- Specify the port to connect on
- Run the SharePoint Configuration Wizard, but instead of entering the database server name, enter the Alias
Phil