PRESENTS... How to Access Remote SourceSafe Fast & Securely?

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1 PRESENTS... How to Access Remote SourceSafe Fast & Securely? This article focuses on the growing problem for development teams who try to use Microsoft Visual SourceSafe (VSS) remotely. The paper will highlight the causes of this problem and reveal options to resolve the problem. This document is written for IT developers who have team members working remotely and require remote access to source code. However, this paper is just as beneficial to those who make the buying decisions within the company since it will give them a better understand of the problems their developers are facing and the solution that could save time, energy, and budget. Is my team facing The Problem? In today s global development environment, it is common for development teams to require remote access. Software products are routinely built by distributed teams. Whether developers on these teams are working from home, on a business trip, as an outside contractor, or as part of a global development team, they all need to access the same code base. Microsoft Visual SourceSafe Already, more than 300 of the Fortune 500 firms do business with Indian IT services companies, according to Gartner. In addition, more than 40 percent of U.S. corporations will have completed some type of offshore IT pilot program. Ed Frauenheim, News.com Microsoft Visual SourceSafe (VSS) is a popular source control package, and ideal for sharing code across a local area network. It provides essential source control functions and has excellent integration with Microsoft development solutions, Visual SourceSafe is the ideal version control system for any development team using Microsoft Visual Studio.NET (source: Microsoft MSDN). Copyright 2007 Dynamsoft. All Rights Reserved. Page 1 of 6

2 SourceSafe was designed for small teams in a LAN environment. However, it has many problems in terms of performance, security and flexibility when used remotely over the Internet. Slow Remote Access Performance Over a slow Internet connection, VSS becomes almost unusable. SourceSafe could take more than 10 minutes to open a project or several minutes to check in a single file when it is used remotely over Internet. However, when a company has remote developers, they need to be using a version control tool that has fast remote access so that they can access the files quick and efficiently. A developer s time is expensive, and shouldn t be wasted checking code in and out from the repository over a slow connection. Poor Security While people are a software company s most valuable assets, source code is next on the list. As development moves outside the LAN, security becomes a top priority since the code repository needs to be protected from accidents as well as malevolent attacks. To share source code files in SourceSafe you have to share the whole SourceSafe database folder, and, when accessed remotely, this action exposes too much of your valuable data to the outside, which may potentially cause the data to be stolen or damaged. If I m working here, and you are working over there, and I make changes, you need to know which version we are at, and if either of us makes changes and it disrupts the system, we need to be able to go back out to the original version, he explains. Software change tools take on an extra importance in distributed development. Matt Light, Gartner Analyst, Application Development Trends Lack of Cross-Platform Support VSS only supports the Windows platform and MSSCCI IDE integrations, making SourceSafe unviable when used in a diverse software development environment. This poses a major problem for developers who are working with different operating systems (such as Linux, Mac, or Solaris) or using different tools (i.e.: Eclipse, Macromedia Dreamweaver) and would prefer to have the flexibility to develop within the environment of their choice. Copyright 2007 Dynamsoft. All Rights Reserved. Page 2 of 6

3 So, what are my options? As distributed development becomes more and more popular, Microsoft Visual SourceSafe cannot meet a remote development team s need for performance, security, and multi-platform development. The alternatives include: a) increase the network speed, b) implement an alternative version control tool, or c) use a third-party VSS remote access add-on. Increase Network Speed One option is to have a faster network. By increasing the network speed, VSS becomes functional over the Internet. However, many developers are already accessing the Internet at maximum remote speed and their remote access to VSS is still too slow. Besides, this option does not fix the security and limited platform support inherited with VSS. Also, increasing network speed can be very costly to set up and, in many locations, there is no such infrastructure available to carry out this option. Implement an Alternative Version Control Tool Another alternative is implementing a completely new version control tool. By migrating to a different version control tool that is optimized for internal and remote access, the remote access problems will disappear. However, abandoning SourceSafe can be costly, unless the interface is similar which can reduce the learning curve. The alternative should also be as stable or preferably even more stable to ensure code integrity. Replacing VSS can mean incurring additional cost, which may or may not be justified, depending on the amount of remote access expected. Therefore, implementing a new tool could be costly, time intensive and may or may not be the best choice depending on your budget, time-frame, and remote access needs. Use A Third-Party VSS Remote Access Add-On The final and often more feasible option is to implement a third-party add-on utility. Instead of having to employ an entirely new version control system, the development team can install an add-on tool that increases the remote access performance and security of VSS. This will require less work by the development team in regards to learning a whole new system, as long as the learning curve for the add-on tool is low. Also, by choosing a remote access VSS add-on, your company can make the most of the initial investment of VSS. When choosing a third-party utility, developers will want to find a remote access solution that features fast performance, security, and multi-platform support. Copyright 2007 Dynamsoft. All Rights Reserved. Page 3 of 6

4 The Technology Dynamsoft s SourceAnywhere for VSS is an add-on tool for SourceSafe. It is recommended by Microsoft as a remote access and cross platform solution to VSS. It was developed with four core objectives in mind: 1. Performance - To deliver the fastest remote access possible over TCP/IP. 2. Security - To apply a fail-safe approach to moving code assets across the Web. 3. Multi-Platform Support - To provide broad platform support and integrate with the industry s most popular OS and IDEs. 4. SourceSafe GUI Similarity To ensure easy integration for developers Performance Optimized for the Web Up to 100 Times Faster Over the Web, SourceAnywhere for VSS can be up to 100 times faster than Visual SourceSafe. Delta Transfer SourceAnywhere for VSS offers delta transfer, where only the changes between two files or assets are passed to and from the code repository, maximizing speed and ensuring minimum bandwidth (and therefore a developer s time) is used in file transfer. Cache Server The newest version of SourceAnywhere for VSS also features an optional cache server specifically designed for geographically distributed teams. When a client needs to get or check out a file from the remote server, if the file is cached in the Cache Server, the Cache Server transfers the file to the client directly, without relaying the file transfer request via the remote server. The cache server handles processing and bandwidth requirements, reducing the burden on the central code repository. The number of files to be transferred over the Internet is significantly reduced, and the remote access performance is greatly improved. Security Protecting the Code Base SourceAnywhere for VSS applies the following advanced security features to ensure your source code is safe: Copyright 2007 Dynamsoft. All Rights Reserved. Page 4 of 6

5 Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Encryption This cryptographic protocol is the industry-wide standard for secure communications on the Internet. With the built-in CA (certificate authority), there is no extra cost to implement SSL. Blowfish Encryption One of the fastest cryptographic algorithms available, Blowfish minimizes the performance impact of encryption. Client-Server Architecture The VSS database folder is only exposed to the SourceAnywhere for VSS Server therefore removing the need to reveal the entire VSS database. Password Policy SourceAnywhere for VSS enables you to improve the security of your passwords by enforcing strong security policies such as password memory, complexity and expiration. Multi-Platform Support Remote Source Control for Your Needs Cross Platform In addition to SourceAnywhere for VSS s Windows client, there is a Java client that enables developers to access VSS repositories from Linux, Solaris, Apple, HP-UX, SCO Unix, FreeBSD or any operation system that supports the J2SE Java runtime environment. IDE Integration SourceAnywhere for VSS works with popular development environments, including Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0, Visual Studio.NET, Eclipse, Macromedia Dreamweaver, IBM Rational Rapid Developer and Borland Delphi 8.0. SourceAnywhere for VSS can integrate with any IDE that supports the Microsoft Source Code Control Interface (MSSCCI). SourceSafe Similarity Easy Integration GUI SourceAnywhere for VSS s user interface is designed to resemble SourceSafe. This makes it easier for developers to integrate the SourceAnywhere for VSS workflow. Supports VSS Operations SourceAnywhere for VSS supports nearly all of SourceSafe s local operations. Copyright 2007 Dynamsoft. All Rights Reserved. Page 5 of 6

6 Conclusion Extending access to source code beyond the LAN can be a risky proposition. However, with so many organizations moving to a distributed development model or even just needing casual remote access, it has now become a necessity to have remote access to source control. SourceAnywhere for VSS provides a fast, reliable and secure application that answers all of the demands of a distributed software engineering team. With SourceAnywhere for VSS, you can spread your development team across the globe, let them work from home, or even outsource work and be confident that your SourceSafe repository is always accessible and safe. In addition, Dynamsoft has a SourceSafe replacement solution, called SourceAnywhere Standalone. Based on SQL Server, SourceAnywhere Standalone is designed as an alternative to Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for developers who are ready to migrate away from VSS for increased performance, security, scalability, and reliability. Also, Dynamsoft has a hosted edition of SourceAnywhere Standalone, called SourceAnywhere Hosted. A free hosting plan is available. We invite you to learn more about SourceAnywhere for VSS, SourceAnywhere Standalone or SourceAnywhere Hosted. For more information, please go to The leading developer of version control and issue tracking software All Dynamsoft brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Dynamsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks including Microsoft, Linux and others are property of their respective owners. Copyright 2007 Dynamsoft. All Rights Reserved. Page 6 of 6