Question
I have been assigned the responsibility of enabling Windows Firewall on our server infrastructure. I have already configured the necessary rules for remote management and other essential services. However, since we are a development house with approximately 45 SQL servers, each of which use named instances which necessitates dynamic ports for connections, additional measures are required.
Is the only method of activating Windows Firewall without losing connectivity to manually add the path of each server’s sqlservr.exe as an exception? Are there any best practices available for this procedure, or has anyone previously completed this task who could offer advice?
Answer
Named instances in SQL do not necessitate dynamic ports. It is possible to assign a static port to each or some SQL instances, allowing for the blocking or unblocking of a specified instance.
