In System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, a
boundary is a network location on the intranet that can contain one
or more devices that you want to manage. Boundaries can be an IP
subnet, Active Directory site name, IPv6 Prefix, or an IP address
range, and the hierarchy can include any combination of these
boundary types. To use a boundary, you must add the boundary to one
or more boundary groups. Boundary groups are collections of
boundaries. By using boundary groups, clients on the intranet can
find an assigned site and locate content when they have to install
software, such as applications, software updates, and operating
system images.
When clients are on the Internet, or they are configured as
Internet-only clients, they do not use boundary information. These
clients cannot use automatic site assignment and always download
content from any distribution point in their assigned site when the
distribution point is configured to allow client connections from
the Internet.
Use the following sections in this topic to help you plan how to
manage boundaries in your Configuration Manager hierarchy:
What’s New in Configuration Manager
The following items are new or have changed for
boundaries since Configuration Manager 2007:
- Boundaries are no longer site specific, but
defined once for the hierarchy, and they are available at all sites
in the hierarchy.
- Each boundary must be a member of a boundary
group before a device on that boundary can identify an assigned
site, or a content server such as a distribution point.
- You no longer configure the network
connection speed of each boundary. Instead, in a boundary group you
specify the network connection speed for each site system server
associated to the boundary group as a content location server.
Boundaries
Each boundary represents a network location in
System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, and it is
available from every site in your hierarchy. A boundary does not
enable you to manage clients at the network location. To manage a
client, the boundary must be a member of a boundary group.
Configuration Manager does not support the direct entry
of a supernet as a boundary. Instead, use the IP address range
boundary type. When Active Directory Forest Discovery identifies a
supernet that is assigned to an Active Directory site,
Configuration Manager converts the supernet into an IP address
range boundary. For more information about Active Directory Forest
Discovery, see the About
Active Directory Forest Discovery section in the Planning for Discovery
in Configuration Manager topic.
Boundary Groups
Use boundary groups to manage your network locations.
You must assign boundaries to boundary groups before you can use
the boundary group. Boundary groups have the following
functions:
- They enable clients to find a primary site
for client assignment (automatic site assignment).
- They can provide clients with a list of
available site systems that have content after you associate the
distribution point and state migration point site system servers
with the boundary group.
To support site assignment, you must configure the
boundary group to specify an assigned site for clients to use
during automatic site assignment. To support content location, you
must specify one or more site systems. You can only specify site
systems with the distribution point or state migration point site
system role. Both the site assignment and content location
configurations are optional for boundary groups.
When you plan for boundary groups, consider creating
one set of boundary groups for content location and a second set of
boundary groups for automatic site assignment. This separation can
help you avoid overlapping boundaries for site assignment. When you
have overlapping boundaries and use automatic site assignment, the
site to which a client is assigned, might be to is
nondeterministic.
The following sections contain information to consider
when you configure boundary groups.
Site Assignment
You can configure each boundary group with an assigned
site for clients. Clients join the assigned site of a boundary
group that contains the client’s current network location. When a
boundary is added to multiple boundary groups that have different
assigned sites, clients will nondeterministically select one of the
sites. System Center 2012 Configuration Manager does
not support this overlapping boundary configuration for site
assignment.
If you make a change to the site assignment
configuration of a boundary group, only new site assignment actions
are affected. Clients that have previously been assigned to a site,
do not re-evaluate their site assignment based on changes to the
configuration of a boundary group.
For more information about client site assignment, see
How to Assign
Clients to a Site in Configuration Manager.
Content Location
You can associate one or more distribution points and
one or more state migration points with each boundary group. You
can also associate a distribution point or state migration point
with multiple boundary groups.
During software distribution, clients request a
location for deployment content. Configuration Manager sends the
client a list of distribution points that are associated with each
boundary group that includes the current network location of the
client.
During operating system deployment, clients request a
location to send or receive their state migration information.
Configuration Manager sends the client a list of state migration
points that are associated with each boundary group that includes
the current network location of the client.
This behavior enables the client to select the nearest
server from which to transfer the content or state migration
information.
Overlapping Boundaries
System Center 2012 Configuration Manager
supports overlapping boundary configurations for content
location.
When a client requests content, and the client network
location belongs to multiple boundary groups, Configuration Manager
sends the client a list of all distribution points that have the
content.
When a client requests a server to send or receive its
state migration information, and the client network location
belongs to multiple boundary groups, Configuration Manager sends
the client a list of all state migration points that are associated
with a boundary group that includes the current network location of
the client.
This behavior enables the client to select the nearest
server from which to transfer the content or state migration
information.
Network Connection Speed
You can configure the network connection speed of each
distribution point in a boundary group. Clients use this value when
they connect to the distribution point. By default, the network
connection speed is configured as Fast, but it can also be
configured as Slow. The network connection speed and the
deployment configuration determine whether a client can download
content from a distribution point when the client is in an
associated boundary group.
Best Practices for Boundaries
Use the following best practices information to help
you use boundaries in System Center 2012
Configuration Manager.
Consider using the IP address range
boundary type only when other boundary types cannot be used
When designing your boundary strategy, we recommend you
use boundaries that are based on Active Directory sites before
using other boundary types. Where boundaries based on
Active Directory sites are not an option, then use
IP subnet or IPv6 boundaries. If none of these options
are available to you, then leverage IP address range
boundaries. This is because the site evaluates boundary members
periodically, and the query required to assess members of an
IP address range requires a substantially larger use of
SQL Server resources than queries that assess members of other
boundary types.
See Also
Note