Examples of moderate topology for Azure DevOps

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You can configure Azure DevOps Server in several topology configurations. Generally speaking, the simpler the topology, the more easily you can maintain a deployment of Azure DevOps Server. You should deploy the simplest topology that meets your business needs. This article describes a moderately complex topology, in which the logical components of the data and application tiers of Azure DevOps are installed on separate physical servers. Client computers within the trusted domains can access Azure DevOps Server.

Moderate topology

A moderate topology uses two or more servers to host the logical components of the data and application tiers of Azure DevOps. The following illustration demonstrates a moderately complex topology for Azure DevOps Server, applicable for a product development team with fewer than 1,000 users:

Moderate Server Topology

In this example, the services for Azure DevOps Server are deployed on one server, called an application-tier server, and the databases for Azure DevOps Server are installed on a separate server, called a data-tier server. A separate server hosts the SharePoint Web application that Azure DevOps Server uses, and another server hosts the instance of SQL Server Reporting Services that Azure DevOps Server uses.

The portal for each project is hosted on the SharePoint Web application. Therefore, the administrator must configure permissions for the users of that project on that Web application. The same consideration applies to configuring permission for users in SQL Server Reporting Services. Team Foundation Build and the team's test controllers are deployed on additional servers.

In this illustration, the domain for the Cleveland clients is a child domain of the parent domain in Seattle. The child domain has a two-way transitive trust relationship with its parent domain. The service account for Azure DevOps Server is trusted by both domains. Users in the child domain can access the server, and they are authenticated automatically by Windows integrated authentication. In this configuration, Azure DevOps Proxy Server is required and installed in the Cleveland office.