In the last month or so I have been able to test and experience first hand the offering from discountasp.net for hosted TFS 2010. This first part is a description of the setup process for the account itself and getting some additional information on what you will find through the portal on their site. Not long ago, I posted a little tidbit on hosting TFS. Through it I also did a shameless plug to my employer, our services and the type of hosting we recommend. So, wouldn’t me running on discountasp.net be an issue? Actually? NO. Ok, enough rambling. Let’s get some details here. It is a Software as a Service model. Through it we get Source Control, Version Control, Work Item Tracking and such. What about Build? If your need includes Build Management and such, you may need to look at some other options. But, still this is a great offering for those that are moving from SourceSafe. Or organizations who have 3 to 5 developers on staff, and do not foresee getting larger anytime soon. Can it support more than 5 developers? Yes, but then we need to get into how are you using TFS. Do you need more than just Basic? For example, SharePoint and Reporting Services integration. The signup process was seamless! Very easy to follow, complete and transition to Visual Studio to start working. An email followed the signup process, it contained details on how to get to the Team Foundation Server Control Panel login. Once there, here is what I saw after the initial setup process of naming my Team Project Collection: So, moving on … once I clicked the area to get my server info, I got the following: Then it was a matter of getting the first user in there: Then on to connecting Visual Studio to my hosted TFS. Getting the server information, and the user account created I will configure those options in Visual Studio. Using Team Explorer, I am adding a new server configuration. Once this is provided, click OK, I will be challenged for a username and password, provide them and you will land on the following screen. Then Click Close. You will now be connected to your server and Team Project Collection. Since this will likely be the first time connecting, you will have no Projects (I already have 2 going). Click Connect, and you will be back in Team Explorer. My next post in the topic will be on Creating your First Team Project and uploading a Project Template to the server.
