How are you with Database Connectivity protocols? There have been quite a few over the years. Banyan Vines and IPX/SPX (Novell) have dropped off the radar as their popularity diminished, and the rise of TCP/IP grew. Even still there are other protocols you can use than TCP/IP.
If your database is on the same machine as the client you can use an SQL memory connection providing the fastest performance overall. Of course that only works on the local machine.
Named Pipes tends to pop its head out there more often than not. This is probably the worst performing protocol for database activity.
Using the SQL Server Configuration Tool you can manage which protocols are supported for any instance of SQL Server. Turn off the ones you don’t use for security purposes. This is the only way to configure a clustered instance.
Is it worth the effort to get the best protocol working for your SQL Server? Do you take the time to configure them and disable un-used protocols? Share your protocol preferences here or by email to btaylor@sswug.org.
Cheers,
Ben