Work with SQL Server Named Instances
You can choose to install Visual Studio Team Foundation Server using the default instance of SQL Server or a named instance of SQL Server. Depending on your business infrastructure and deployment needs, you might prefer to use a named instance. If you want to use a named instance in your deployment of Team Foundation Server, you must create that named instance in SQL Server before you install Team Foundation Server or create a team project collection that uses that instance. You cannot create a named instance during installation of Team Foundation Server. For more information, see the following page on the Microsoft Web site: Instance Configuration.
To use a named instance of SQL Server in a deployment of Team Foundation Server
To use a named instance with Team Foundation Server, you must either install it by using a named instance, move or restore Team Foundation Server data to a named instance, or create a team project collection on a named instance. For more information, see one of the following:
For information about how to install Team Foundation Server by using a named instance, see the Team Foundation Installation Guide. To download this guide, see the following page on the Microsoft Web site: Installation Guide for Team Foundation.
For more information about how to restore data, see Backing up and Restoring Your Deployment.
For information about how to create a collection, see Create a Team Project Collection.