title: Connect to SQL Server database on Azure through a proxy server
body: <p>I'm trying to access my Microsoft Azure service through Visual Studio Community (v12 update 4) through a corporate proxy server.  I'm able to access my mobile services and the API scripts using proxy settings I manually entered into the .config file (<a href="http://en.code-bude.net/2013/07/15/how-to-setup-a-proxy-server-in-visual-studio-2012/" rel="nofollow">http://en.code-bude.net/2013/07/15/how-to-setup-a-proxy-server-in-visual-studio-2012/</a>)</p>
  
  <p>However I can't get into my SQL Server databases through Visual Studio or the included SQL Server Object Explorer.  I get the following error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Cannot connect to mydb.database.windows.net.
  
  A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to 
  SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is 
  correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes 
  Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server) (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 53)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>FWIW I also cannot connect to the SQL database through SQL Server Management Studio via the proxy at work, although I can do it from home. The web database access through Azure's management portal has stopped working for a few months now - giving me a blank page when logged in, so I'm pretty much shut out of db access.</p>
  
  <p>I do not have access to my corporate proxy server.  It's run by bureaucrats who answer to their own silo.</p>
  
  <p>Anyone else successfully connect to the SQL Server db through a proxy?</p>