SCCM Secondary Site vs.

Branch Distribution

SECONDARY SITE:

Pro’s

o Secondary sites do not require additional Configuration Manager 2007 server licenses.
o Secondary sites do not require an additional SQL Server database at the secondary site.
o Clients can be managed across a slow network connection link, such as a wide area network (WAN)
connection between sites, without the need to configure client agent settings.
o Secondary sites can have management points (called proxy management points) to help prevent client
reporting information, such as inventory reports and status messages, from traversing slow network
connections to the primary site.
o Remote sites can be managed centrally from a parent primary site without the need for an on-site
administrator at the secondary site.

Cons:

o Parent sites for secondary sites cannot be changed without uninstalling them and installing a new
secondary site.
o Secondary sites cannot be upgraded to primary sites. To replace a secondary site with a primary site, you
must uninstall the secondary site and install a primary site.
o Because Configuration Manager clients are always assigned to primary sites, client agent settings cannot
be configured differently from the secondary site's parent site for clients located within the boundaries of
secondary sites.

BRANCH DISTRIBUTION:

Pro's,

o Reduces site hierarchy complexity.

o Allows package to be copied out of band to a distribution point within the site.
o Does not require a server operating system. (limited to 10 connections)
o Provides on-demand package distribution, in which packages are downloaded to the branch distribution
point only when specifically requested by a client computer.
o Branch distribution points download content from standard distribution points using BITS (Background
Intelligent Transfer Service).
o Supports all packages, including software update packages and operating system deployment packages.

Cons

o Does not manage traffic uploaded from clients to management points.

o Does not manage traffic when downloading policies from management points to clients.
o Does not provide a local software update point to scan for software updates.
o Does not provide precise time and bandwidth controls between sites, as a Sender does.
o Restricts available connections to 10 or fewer if using a client operating system.
NOTES TO CONSIDER:

When choosing between secondary sites and branch distribution points, you should consider the amount of network
traffic that the planned and future site clients will generate. It might be beneficial to install a secondary site if
the amount of network traffic generated by clients across a slow link would be greater than the site-to-site
communication traffic generated by a secondary site. Clients generate uncompressed network traffic when they
request policies and send information—such as inventory, discovery, and status message information—to their
management point based on the policy polling interval and client agents settings you define in the primary site's
Configuration Manager console. Site-to-site communication between primary and secondary sites is compressed
and can be scheduled and throttled by configuring site address settings.

My Recommendations:

Parametric: Install a Secondary Site at this location due to the amount of clients and to reduce WAN traffic.

London: Install a Branch Distribution Point due to the low number of clients at the site.

Fox: Install a Branch Distribution Point also due to the number of clients.