title: Connecting to database suddenly started throwing exception for my website
body: <p>I have an MVC3 application hosted by third party hosting provider. The site has been running well for the past 3 months without any problems. Today suddenly the Application started throwing following Exception as recorded in my logs part of which is shown below. </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>System.Data.ProviderIncompatibleException: The provider did not return
    a ProviderManifestToken string. --->
    System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Timeout expired.  The timeout
    period elapsed prior to completion of the operation or the server is
    not responding.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>The message is self explanatory and I first thought I should increase the connect timeout, but then the exception was still thrown suggesting the other part (Server Not Responding). I contacted my hosting provider and he said there was nothing wrong on his part. So I am stuck with a down website and don't know what to do. </p>
  
  <p>Any ideas why the provider is throwing the exception listed above. Also, is it possible for me to remotely connect to the database on the hosting server with limited authority. Any tools for that ? I don't have an exposure in database subject, except for application programming.</p>