You can connect to your RDS for SQL Server instance using a Windows ECS with SQL Server Management Studio installed over a private network.
You can connect to a DB instance through a non-SSL connection or an SSL connection using the RDS for SQL Server client. The SSL connection encrypts data and is more secure.
This section describes how to connect to a DB instance with SSL disabled. To connect to a DB instance with SSL enabled, see Connecting to an RDS for SQL Server Instance Through a Private Network.
Procedure | Description |
|---|---|
Specify configurations and buy a DB instance. | |
If you want to use an SSMS client to connect to a DB instance, you need to prepare a server, install the SQL Server Management Studio on the server, and run the connection command. Create a Linux ECS that is in the same region and VPC as your instance. | |
Step 3: Test Connectivity and Install SQL Server Management Studio | Test the network connectivity between the ECS and the floating IP address and port of the instance, and install SQL Server Management Studio on the ECS. |
Step 4: Connect to the DB Instance Using SQL Server Management Studio | Use a command-line interface (CLI) to connect to the instance through its floating IP address and port. |
in the upper left corner and select a region and a project.
in the upper left corner of the page and choose Database > Relational Database Service.Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
Region | Region where your resources are located. NOTE: Products in different regions cannot communicate with each other through a private network. After a DB instance is created, the region cannot be changed. Therefore, exercise caution when selecting a region. |
DB Instance Name | Must start with a letter and consist of 4 to 64 characters. Only letters (case-sensitive), digits, hyphens (-), and underscores (_) are allowed.
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DB Engine | Select Microsoft SQL Server. |
DB Engine Version | For details, see DB Engines and Versions. Supported DB engine versions may vary by region. For the actual options, see them on the console. For RDS for SQL Server, select an appropriate DB engine version tailored to your workloads. You are advised to select the latest available version because it is more stable, reliable, and secure. |
DB Instance Type |
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AZ | An AZ is a physical region where resources use independent power supplies and networks. AZs are physically isolated but interconnected through an internal network. To achieve high reliability, RDS will automatically deploy your primary and standby instances in different physical servers even if you deploy them in the same AZ. If you attempt to deploy your primary and standby instances in the same AZ in a Dedicated Computing Cluster (DCC) and there is only one physical server available, the creation will fail. You can deploy your primary and standby instances in a single AZ or across AZs to implement failover and high availability. |
Storage Type | Determines the instance read/write speed. A higher maximum throughput enables faster I/O operations. Ultra-high I/O: uses the SSD disk type that supports a maximum throughput of 350 MB/s. |
Time Zone | Select a time zone based on the region your instance will be hosted in. After an instance is created, the time zone cannot be modified. |
Character Set | Defines a collation of a database or table column, or a collation cast operation when applied to character string expression. It acts as the default collation for the DB instance. |
Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
Instance Class | Refers to the vCPU and memory of a DB instance. Different instance classes support different numbers of database connections and maximum IOPS. For details about instance classes, see RDS for SQL Server Instance Classes. After a DB instance is created, you can change its instance class. For details, see Changing a DB Instance Class. |
Storage Space | Contains the system overhead required for inodes, reserved blocks, and database operation. Storage space can range in size from 40 GB to 4,000 GB and can be scaled up only by a multiple of 10 GB. After a DB instance is created, you can scale up its storage space. For details, see Scaling Up Storage Space. |
Disk Encryption |
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Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
VPC | A virtual network in which your RDS instances are located. A VPC can isolate networks for different workloads. You can select an existing VPC or create a VPC. For details about how to create a VPC, see "Creating a VPC" in Virtual Private Cloud User Guide. If no VPC is available, RDS allocates a VPC to you by default. NOTICE: After a DB instance is created, the VPC cannot be changed. |
Subnet | Improves network security by providing dedicated network resources that are logically isolated from other networks. Subnets are only valid within a specific AZ. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is enabled by default for subnets where you plan to create DB instances and cannot be disabled. A floating IP address is automatically assigned when you create an RDS instance. You can also enter an unused floating IP address in the subnet CIDR block. After the DB instance is created, the floating IP address cannot be changed.
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Security Group | Enhances security by controlling access to RDS from other services. Ensure that the security group you select allows the client to access the DB instance. When creating a DB instance, you can select multiple security groups. For better network performance, select no more than five security groups. If you select more than one security group, the access rules of all the selected security groups apply on the instance. If no security group is available, RDS allocates a security group to you by default. |
Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
Administrator | The default login name for the database is rdsuser. |
Administrator Password | The new password must consist of 8 to 32 characters and contain at least three types of the following characters: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, digits, and special characters (~!@#$%^*-_+?,). Enter a strong password and periodically change it for security reasons. If the password you provide is considered weak by the system, you will be prompted to provide a stronger password. Keep this password secure. The system cannot retrieve it. After a DB instance is created, you can reset this password. For details, see Resetting the Administrator Password. |
Confirm Password | Must be the same as Administrator Password. |
Parameter Template | Contains engine configuration values that can be applied to one or more DB instances of the same DB engine. If you intend to create a primary/standby DB pair, they use the same parameter template. You can modify the instance parameters as required after the DB instance is created. NOTICE: If you use a custom parameter template when creating a DB instance, the specification-related parameter max server memory (MB) in the custom template is not delivered. Instead, the default value is used. After an instance is created, you can adjust its parameters as needed. For details, see Modifying RDS for SQL Server Instance Parameters. |
Enterprise Project | If your account has been associated with an enterprise project, select the target project from the Enterprise Project drop-down list. |
Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
Tag | Tags an RDS instance. This parameter is optional. Adding tags to RDS instances helps you better identify and manage the instances. Up to 20 tags can be added for each DB instance. If your organization has configured tag policies for RDS, add tags to DB instances based on the policies. If any tag you add does not comply with the policies, DB instance creation may fail. Contact your organization administrator to learn more about tag policies. After a DB instance is created, you can view its tag details on the Tags page. For details, see RDS for SQL Server Tags. |
Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
Quantity | RDS supports DB instance creation in batches. If you choose to create primary/standby DB instances and set Quantity to 1, a primary DB instance and a standby DB instance will be created synchronously. If you create multiple DB instances at a time, their names will include a four-digit suffix. For example, if you specify instance here, the names will be instance-0001, instance-0002, and so on. If existing instances' suffixes have already reached up to 0010, the new instance names will start from instance-0011. |
The performance of your RDS instance depends on its configurations. The hardware configuration items you can choose include the instance class, storage type, and storage space.
For details, see Changing a Database Port.
To download SQL Server Management Studio to the ECS, bind an EIP to the ECS. The ECS must be in the same region, VPC, and security group as the RDS for SQL Server DB instance for mutual communications.
For details about how to purchase a Windows ECS, see "Purchasing an ECS" in Elastic Cloud Server User Guide.
telnet 192.168.2.182 1433
Figure 1 Connecting to the server

Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
Server name | Floating IP address and database port obtained in 3. |
Authentication | Authentication mode. Select SQL Server Authentication. |
Login | Name of the account used to access the DB instance. The default value is rdsuser. |
Password | Password of the account. |