NuGet self hosting: why bother with a Nuget.Server when a simple Shared folder works well

Question

In my company, we want to publish our internal libraries and tools using an internal NuGet package source.

There are plenty of examples of how to build your own NuGet Server, hosted in an IIS. But it is also possible to simply put all your .nupkg files in a shared folder with well managed read/write rights) so that your whole team can access them.

The configuration in Visual Studio (here 2013) is a no-brainer in both cases:

Is there any advantage in bothering with an IIS hosting, Server deployement, ... etc, compared to simple shared folder?

Answer 1

• When working from home without a VPN, a secured web-connection is more preferable.
• Distributed teams might require access (outsourcing project components to India or Poland).
• Build servers might not support the shared folder method (it is more complicated to allow UNC paths for a user without a desktop session).
• Firewall restrictions or company policy are likely reasons to make a web-server more appealing.

I've also seen DropBox being used for sharing repositories, which works around many of the issues with shared folders and also requires less hassle to set up. Often company policies disallow the use of DropBox or anything like it in which case a web-server may work best.