Same machine doubles as both server and client

[foothold]

Hello,

I am new to Vault, so sorry in advance if this issue has been answered before:

I am using a Windows Server 2003 (Standard Edition) machine, which doubles as my client. I.e. - aside from IIS and SQL Server, it also has a Visual Studio 2010 installation, and I am developing directly on that machine. This means I do not have a "server folder" and a "client local file folder", but rather IIS and VS point to the same physical folder.

Does this change anything in the Vault Proffessional installation process? Can / Should I install the Vault server and client on the same physical machine? What actually happens, in this scenario, when I "check out" a file?
(Note: I would like to work directly from within VS 2010).

Thank you in advance.

[lbauer]

There's no problem with installing the Vault client and Vault Server on the same physical machine.

There are no technical issues if your working folder for Visual Studio is the same folder in IIS. This assumes that you don't have a problem editing your website in real time.

When you use source code control, you're interacting with the source control database.

When you check out a file, you are making the file on disk writable so you can edit it. After you modify and check in a file, you are storing the change in the database. It is not automatically propagated to somewhere on disk.

Vault does have functionality like shadow folders, which "push" a copy of checked-in files to a location on disk either on the same machine or elsewhere on the LAN.

For more information about source control, see this link:

http://www.ericsink.com/scm/source_control.html

Let me know if you have additional questions.

[foothold]

Thank you for your very clear and detailed answer! I appreciate it.

[lbauer]

You're welcome.