Team Foundation Server Components

Team Foundation servers provide source control, work item tracking, reporting, and project Web site capabilities for Visual Studio Team System. These servers can also provide build functionality. Team Foundation servers also integrate with Microsoft Project and Microsoft Excel to extend reporting and tracking abilities.

Team Foundation Server Logical Architecture

The logical architecture of Team Foundation Server consists of the following components:

• Team Foundation application tier   This logical layer is made up primarily of Web services. It represents the application tier in a traditional three-tier Web application deployment. The services and functions that belong to this layer are sometimes referred to Team Foundation Server (services) when they are deployed on a physical server. Some components are optional, and you can choose not to install them if your deployment does not require that functionality. For example, if you do not plan to use team project portals, you might not incorporate SharePoint Products and Technologies as part of your deployment. Depending on your deployment configuration, you might install the components of this logical layer and its prerequisites on one or more physical servers. For a complete list of the required and optional components of a deployment, see the installation guide for Team Foundation. You can download the most recent version of this guide from the following page on the Microsoft Web site: Team Foundation Installation Guide for Visual Studio Team System 2008.

• Team Foundation data tier   This logical layer is made up primarily of a server that is running SQL Server. This layer includes databases that are specific to Team Foundation Server and represents the data tier in a traditional three-tier deployment of a Web application. Depending on your deployment configuration, this logical layer and its prerequisites might be installed on one or more physical servers.

• Team Foundation client tier   This logical layer is made up primarily of Web services and the Team Foundation object model. It represents the client tier in a traditional three-tier Web application deployment. Depending on your deployment configuration, this logical layer and its prerequisites might be installed on many physical computers in your deployment, but each client installation must have all logical client components installed on the same physical computer.

The following diagram illustrates the components that compose the logical tiers of Team Foundation.

You can physically deploy the application and data tiers for Team Foundation on one server (single-server deployment) or separately on two or more servers (dual-server deployment and multiple-server deployment). A separate license is required for each server that is running Team Foundation Server. Therefore, in a dual-server deployment, you need two licenses for Team Foundation Server. In addition, you need a client access license (CAL) for each client of Team Foundation that connects to Team Foundation Server. For more information, see the following pages on the Microsoft Web site:

• For information about how to obtain and manage licenses, see the Team System Licensing White Paper.

• For more information about how to choose a physical architecture for your deployment of Team Foundation, see Choosing a Team Foundation Server Deployment Configuration.

• For more information about how to install Team Foundation, see Team Foundation Installation Guide for Visual Studio Team System 2008.

See Also

Concepts

Team Foundation Server Planning Roadmap

Team Foundation Server Planning Checklist

Other Resources

Requirements for Team Foundation

Change History

Date	History	Reason
June 2010	Corrected link to the licensing whitepaper and clarified that some components, such as SharePoint Products and Technologies, are optional.	Customer feedback.