[Aquanox]

Ну примерно так и есть

boolean verifyConnection() {
   Connection conn = null;
   try {
      conn = DriverManager.getConnection(...);
      //conn.getMetaData(); 
      return true;
   } catch(SQLException e) {
      return false;
   } finally  {
     if (conn != null) try { conn.close(); } catch(Exception ignored) {}
   }
}