Which database my current SharePoint server is using

Question

I was told by the DB adminsitrator that the current SharePoint server on staging is connected to database named SV002\SPS, but when i create a new application the database server name will automatically be SV001\SharePoint where SV001 is the machine containing the SharePoint server.

and when i go to central admin--> Upgrade and migration--> Review database status. i found that the SQL instance is SV001\SharePoint.

So i got confused on which database the SharePoint is using ?, can central admin mention that SP is using Sv001\SharePoint, while the actual physical server is on SV002\SPs as mentioned by the DB administrator, or the Db administrator might be wrong ?

Can anyone advice ?

Answer 1

It is possible that your server was configured using one database but then changed to point elsewhere for content which would mean that the original databases used for config and service applications still point to the old instance.

If you open the SharePoint Management Shell and run Get-SPDatabase | Select Name,Server it will list all of the databases in use by that farm and where those databases are. If you don't see the SV002 entry, it means that it isn't your farm that is connected there.

It is certainly possible that there is another farm/install that is accessing that other instance but the DBA has tools available to identify the machine that is originating those queries. That will help make it easier to track what farm is using that database.

Answer 2

SharePoint never lies :)

Could there be another SP Environment using the other database server? How does the DBA know it's your SP environment is using those databases? It could also be a DNS issue, does your SP server ping the correct IP for the SV002 server?