Team Development with Visual Studio Team Foundation Server

Common Scenarios
• Remote office. If you are supporting remote users with VPN access, use the VPN solution.
This is the easiest solution to enable, provides well-understood security, allows remote access
to all TFS features, and allows you to use the TFS Proxy to improve performance.
• Offshore team. If you are supporting remote users without VPN access or without access to
the domain, use the reverse proxy scenario. This solution is more difficult to set up, but it
enables remote users to access an internally located TFS without the need for VPN.
• Hosted community. If you are supporting a set of remote users who will be using a TFS
installation dedicated to their use, such as a community development site, use the extranet
scenario. This solution gives you the most separation between the remote users and your
internal network resources.
Using a VPN connection
Figure 17.1 shows architecture for exposing TFS over a VPN.
Internet
Internal
TFS Server
Workstation
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TFS Web Services API
Team Project Portal
SQL Reporting
Services
Workstation
SQL Server
AD User
Store
Figure 17.1 TFS over VPN Architecture
With this approach, your remote development team uses a direct VPN connection to your TFS on
your internal network. If you have TFS without SP1, or if you require Integrated Windows
authentication, then using a VPN connection is your only option. TFS is designed to work in
low-bandwidth situations, such as VPN access, and provides acceptable performance when used
in this scenario.
Advantages
• All TFS features work, including the TFS Proxy.