The Team Foundation Server object model is a set of managed APIs that include the following interfaces.

• Team Foundation Common Services

  • Registration service

  • Security service

  • Linking service

  • Eventing service

  • Classification service

• Version Control Object Model

• Work Item Tracking Object Model

• Team Foundation Build Object Model

The Team Foundation Server object model is publicly documented in the Team Foundation Server extensibility documentation in the Visual Studio SDK.

The Team Foundation application tier contains the following ASP.NET Web services that correspond to respective proxies or object models on the client tier. These Web services are not intended for third-party integrators to program against. One exception to this policy is the MSBuild Web service that is documented in the Team Foundation Server extensibility documentation in the Visual Studio SDK.

• Team Foundation Common Services

  • Registration Web service

  • Security Web service

  • Linking Web service

  • Eventing Web service

  • Classification Web service

• Version Control Web service

• Work Item Tracking Web service

• Team Foundation Build Web service

The Team Foundation data tier consists of the following operational stores within SQL Server 2005. This includes data, stored procedures, and other associated logic. These operational stores are not generally intended for third-party integrators to program against.

• Work item tracking

• Version control

• Team Foundation Common Services

• Team Foundation Build

• Reporting warehouse

The client tier uses the same Web services listed in the application tier to communicate with the Team Foundation application tier. It communicates through the Team Foundation Server object model. Besides the Team Foundation Server object model, the Team Foundation client tier consists of Visual Studio Industry Partners (VSIP) components, Microsoft Office integration, command-line interfaces, and a check-in policy framework for integration with Team Foundation Server and customized integration. For more information about how to extend and customize the client tier, see the extensibility documentation in the Visual Studio SDK.

In deployments where Team Foundation Server is running in an Active Directory domain, group and identity information is synchronized when any of the following events occur:

• The application-tier server for Team Foundation starts.

• An Active Directory group is added to a group in Team Foundation Server.

• The amount of time specified in the web.config file elapses. (The default is 1 hour.)

Active Directory synchronizes with Generic Security Services (GSS), which then synchronizes with Team Foundation Server. Changed identities are propagated from the server to the clients. Depending on the synchronization interval configured in the web.config file and the nature of the change to groups and users, it might take some time for changes to Active Directory users and groups to be reflected across Team Foundation Server.

By default, communication between the Team Foundation application tier, the Team Foundation data tier, build computers, and the Team Foundation Server proxy, use the protocols and ports in the following list. If an asterisk (*) follows the port number, you can customize that port.

You can modify Team Foundation Server to use some custom ports. You can change communication between the application tier, the data tier, and the client tier, as noted in the previous table. As an example, the following table describes changes in ports from HTTP to HTTPS.

Note:
Configuring Team Foundation Server to use HTTPS and SSL is a complex task that involves much more than enabling ports for HTTPS network traffic. For more information, see Securing Team Foundation Server with HTTPS and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).