We just installed a new SQL Server 2000 Active/Active
cluster. We are trying to connect to the database from VB
using ADO using the connection string:

Provider=sqloledb;Data Source=HAZXXXXX\SDXXX;Network
Library=dbmssocn;Network Address=172.99.99.99,1433;Initial
Catalog=<DatabaseName>;User
Id=<UserID>;Password=<Password>;Packet Size=1518

The error message we get back is:

DBNETLIB][ConnectionOpen (Connect()).]Specified SQL server
not found.

The SQL Server error log has the following:

SQL server listening on 172.99.99.99: 1433.

If we take off the port 1433 from the network address, we
can connect to the database. Why can't we keep 1433 in
the string?

We figured out how to get it to work. We took off the SQL
Server Instance name off the Data Souce (Now the Data
Source is HAZXXXXX.) and we can connect with the port
listed in the Network Address.

Sue,
In the event of a failover, especially in Active/Active,
your port may or may not be 1433. The use of MDAC 2.6 or
higher allows your connection to "dynamically" determine
what port it should use when it makes the connection.
So... I would not define the port in your connection
string.