Setup secondary TFS 2010 app tier will impact the current configuration?

Question

Hello, we would like to setup a secondary TFS 2010 app tier for NLB and serve as backup server. However we wonder if it changes or break our current configuration.

Here are our current configuration:

- A server running primary TFS app tier. It also configures local WSS 3.0 sharepoint that running on local box and report pointing to data warehouse and anylysis. (not Lab management)

- A server that hosts back end database.

Future configuration: setup a second TFS app tier that is the same as the first one. Using VIP to point to the ip of both those servers for sharing the traffic.

Here are the questions:

1. Assume after the second server up and running, both of the server will serve equally or there will be a concept of primary and secondary where primary will take most of the traffic and will be the first "reference" when client requests to TFS?

If TFS crashes on the first box, will all the traffic is smart enough and go to the second box? or we have to shutdown the first box so the traffic will "force" to the second?

2. On the second server, can it has it own WSS 3.0 sharepoint, or it has to point back to the URL on the first box? Does it make any complication if we move to MOSS 2012 in the future?

3. Can we configure report on the second server that point to the same data warehouse and analysis? Or only let the first box handle report?

4. Can the second server point to its own local smtp for email?

5. Anything we need to keep in mind so it will be easy for future upgrade to 2012?

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi,

1. When you install a second application tier it will simply be another server through which anyone can connect. To make full use of both application tier servers you must load balance them using the software of your choice, such as Big IP. You can also look at the following article: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/tfssetup/archive/2010/11/12/configuring-nlb-for-tfs-2010.aspx

2. You can install a new web front end for sharepoint on the new application tier machine if you wish to load balance  sharepoint as well.

3. You can scale out reporting services as well, this is a seperate step and involves setting up a scale-out deployment which will share the same back-end report server database. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms156453(v=sql.105).aspx 

4. The new application tier machine will use the same settings as the other machine for SMTP, I guess you could specify localhost or change the host file if you wanted the servers to use the smtp on each local machine.

5. Obviously, the more software/servers you have, the more complicated an upgrade will be.

Answer 2

Thank you.