Is it possible to use Source Safe over the internet?
Would you do it?
+6
A:
Sourceoffsite was specifically made for this - and was a pretty good product if I recall.
I would not use sourcesafe if I had a choice. Do a search on this site for more details. It has been beaten to death.
Other popular products are subversion/svn, mercurial and git. There are of course other commercial products that cost money. One of them is a sponsor for this site.
EDIT
If you can choose a different tool/product go for one of the others, but you can do it with sourcesafe.
Tim
2009-05-27 18:57:29
+1 because that's the answer, but I wouldn't say "don't use it." Yes, SourceSafe itself is something you'll want to move off of, but if you're stuck you should use SourceoffSite.
Jason Cohen
2009-05-27 19:01:03
SourceSafe 2005 directly supports HTTP usage in a timezone-safe manner with server components.
Jeff Yates
2009-05-27 19:06:58
RolandTumble
2009-05-27 21:37:26
+2
A:
If you don't have a choice, you could use a VPN. But that's going to open all kinds of other security issues. That is, assuming you even have the power to do it.
FastAl
2009-05-27 18:59:29
+1, and VPN gives you access to other things anyway (internal Wiki?). Note that this is very slow, but that's mostly SourceSafe's fault.
Jason Cohen
2009-05-27 19:01:35
+2
A:
It depends on the version. IIRC, 2005 supported access via http, and the wikipedia article seems to corroborate that.
That said, svn+tortoise+ankh will do everything source safe will do and then some, only faster and better, and costs less too.
Joel Coehoorn
2009-05-27 18:59:55
+2
A:
As developers (and consultants) we cannot always pick the tools that we use. Yes, you can configure VSS to use the HTTP protocol, and while I would not use it over the Internet, I have used it that way, over VPN and LAN connections. It was not always reliable over slow VPN connections (frequent reconnects would occur, but no data loss), and performance was an issue.
cdonner
2009-05-27 19:00:06
+1
A:
Possible? Yes. Would I do it? No. There exists only one condition under which I would use sourcesafe: If it was a job requirement and I had literally no other choice.
Chris Lively
2009-05-27 19:00:15
+1
A:
I've found that VSS 2005 works ok via a VPN over a high speed connection. There's a way to access it via HTTP. I think it's an install option that sets up a web site for this in IIS.
Booji Boy
2009-05-27 19:00:39