How do I connect to some local DB server in MS SQL Server 2012?

Question

I installed MS SQL Server and now want to create some tables and do some queries ... I need to have some local DB Server running to do that right? When I installed SQL Server there was no option to select a local server to connect to... What Authentication should I choose? a)Windows b)SQL Server - if this one, what credentials should I use?

Here is a picture how it looks when I open SQL Server Management Studio postimg.org/image/nffyjjx3p/

I tried to connect to ACER-PC server (the name of my laptop) but it says: Cannot connect to ACER-PC.

...or is it possible to create a database and do some queries on it without some DB Server running? I doubt it is possible...

Solution 1

To be able to logon to a SQL Server instance, you have to know what you did during the installation.

1. The SQL Server instance name is specified here. Did you select the default, or you specified a name for it?

2.What about the authentication type and SQL Server as account login?

3.When you start SQL Server Management Studio, in the Server name list click Browse for more and in the browse for servers dialog expand Database Engine

All local SQL Server instances will be listed. All you have to do is enter the correct password.

Solution 2

You installed SQL Server. This is the local DB server that you need running.

With regard to the authentication, if you are connecting to a server on your local machine then you use Windows authentication which takes your windows user/pass to login to the db. If you are connecting to a server that is not in your network/on your local machine then you use server authentication. For this to work, the (database) server needs to have been setup with a logon and password which you type in.

To access a local server, you should be able to click the 'Server name:' drop-down and pick <Browse for more ...> which should show a (possibly single entry) list of database engines you can connect to.

If this doesn't show any entries, you may need to check the Sql Server post install instructions to get a database engine up and running.

Comments

[Jon49]

Where are the Sql Server post install instructions located?

[mcalex]

Instructions appear as part of the install wizard.