Hey there,

Not sure if this is the correct forum but here goes.

I have a Microsoft SQL Server Database created with Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 18, I connected Excel to it to analyse the data and saved that workbook in a shared One Drive folder. The other users cannot refresh the data from the database. I've exhausted all my online search options to figure out how to fix this. I don't know if the database is on a cloud server or if that matters.

Error message is; [Datasource.Error] Microsoft SQL: 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; SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified)

The database does allow for remote connections, I checked that.

I'm comfortable with Excel but I'm new to databases, only worked with Access in the past. Anyone know of the 'best' way to have a database we can all (4 users currently) connect to while also connecting Excel to it.

I don't understand the pricing plans for Azure, AWS etc.

Doesn't have to be a free option but a set monthly fee with no surprises would work if a server is the issue. It's a relatively small amount of data, currently maybe 100 rows, 24 columns.

The option I last came across was Godaddy web hosting had a database option.

Thanks in advance for any help, going to go close my 25 google search tabs now.....

Kevin