ASP.Net MVC 3 System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException Timeout expired - asp.net-mvc-3

Question

I am developing an ASP.Net MVC 3 web application using Entity Framework 4.1. I recently uploaded the application to my test server and I have noticed an error email delivered by ELMAH stating
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException Timeout expired. The timeout period
elapsed prior to completion of the operation or the server is not
responding.
Below shows some of my code.
Controller
public ActionResult VerifyEmail(int uid, string vid)
{
var userList = _userService.VerifyEmail(uid,vid).ToList();
}
Service
public IList<User> VerifyEmail(int uid, string emailvcode)
{
return _uow.User.Get(u => u.userID == uid && u.emailVerificationCode == emailvcode).ToList();
}
Unit of Work
public class UnitOfWork : IUnitOfWork, IDisposable
{
readonly LocumEntities _context = new LocumEntities();
private GenericRepository<User> _user = null;
public IGenericRepository<User> User
{
get
{
if (_user == null)
{
_user = new GenericRepository<User>(_context);
}
return _user;
}
}
}
Generic Repository
public IList<TEntity> Get(Expression<Func<TEntity, bool>> filter = null,Func<IQueryable<TEntity>, IOrderedQueryable<TEntity>> orderBy = null,string includeProperties = "")
{
IQueryable<TEntity> query = dbSet;
if (filter != null)
{
query = query.Where(filter);
}
foreach (var includeProperty in includeProperties.Split
(new char[] { ',' }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries))
{
query = query.Include(includeProperty);
}
if (orderBy != null)
{
return orderBy(query).ToList();
}
else
{
return query.ToList();
}
}
The Timeout error is sometimes happening when the line within the Service method is trying to execute
return _uow.User.Get(u => u.userID == uid && u.emailVerificationCode == emailvcode).ToList();
This error is not happening every time, only occasionally, however, I don't understand why as this query will either return a list of Users, or, a NULL list.
Can anyone spot from my code why this may be happening?
Any feedback would be appreciated as I have no idea why this is happening.
Thanks.

Answer 1

Try increasing the timeout property in the connection string. Also run the SQL Server Profiler to see how much SQL is being generated for your queries, as the query may be returning a large volume of data causing the timeout.