Using Connection Pooling

Connecting to a database is the single slowest operation inside a data-centric application. That's why connection management is important to application performance. Optimize your application by connecting once and using multiple statement objects, instead of performing multiple connections. Avoid connecting to a data source after establishing an initial connection.

Connection pooling is part of the .NET data provider. Connection pooling lets you reuse connections. Closing connections does not close the physical connection to the database. When an application requests a connection, an active connection is reused, thus avoiding the network I/O needed to create a new connection.

Pre-allocate connections. Decide which connection strings you will need to meet your needs. Remember that each unique connection string creates a new connection pool.

Once created, connection pools are not destroyed until the active process ends or the connection lifetime is exceeded. Maintenance of inactive or empty pools involves minimal system overhead.

Connection and statement handling should be addressed before implementation. Spending time and thoughtfully handling connection management improves application performance and maintainability.