Boundaries represent network locations on the intranet where
Configuration Manager clients are located. Boundary groups are
logical groups of boundaries that provide clients access to
resources. In System Center 2012
Configuration Manager, each boundary and boundary group you
configure is available throughout the hierarchy. You do not
configure them for individual sites.
You configure a boundary for each intranet network location that
you manage, and then add that boundary to one or more boundary
groups.
You can configure a boundary group to identify the site that new
clients should join, based upon the clients’ network location. You
can also configure the boundary group with to identify which
content servers are available for use by a client, based upon the
clients’ network location.
Use the procedures in the following sections to help you
configure boundaries and boundary groups
Create and Configure Boundaries for
Configuration Manager
When you configure boundaries in
System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, they
automatically receive a name that is based upon the type and scope
of the boundary. You cannot modify this name. Instead, when you
configure the boundary specify a description to help identify the
boundary in the Configuration Manager console.
After you create a boundary, you can modify its
properties to do the following:
- Add the boundary to one or more boundary
groups.
- Change the type or scope of the boundary.
- View the boundaries Site Systems tab
to see which content servers (distribution points and state
migration points) are associated with the boundary.
 Tip |
| In addition to using the Create Boundary command to
create a new boundary, you can configure Active Directory Forest
Discovery to create boundaries for each IP Subnet and Active
Directory Site it discovers. |
Use the following procedures to create and modify a
boundary:
To create a boundary
-
In the Configuration Manager console, click
Administration.
-
In the Administration workspace, expand
Hierarchy Configuration, and click Boundaries.
-
On the Home tab, in the Create group,
click Create Boundary.
-
On the General tab of the Create Boundary dialog
box you can specific a Description to identify the boundary
by a friendly name or reference.
-
Select a Type for this boundary:
- If you select IP Subnet, you must
specify a Subnet ID for this boundary.
| Tip |
| You can specify the Network and Subnet mask to
have the Subnet ID automatically specified. When you save
the boundary, only the Subnet ID value is saved. |
- If you select Active Directory site,
you must specify or Browse to an Active Directory site in
the local forest of the site server.
 Important |
| When you specify an Active Directory site for a boundary, the
boundary includes each IP Subnet that is a member of that Active
Directory site. If the configuration of the Active Directory site
changes in Active Directory, the network locations included in this
boundary also change. |
- If you select IPv6 prefix, you must
specify a Prefix in the IPv6 prefix format.
- If you select IP address range, you
must specify a Starting IP address and Ending IP
address that includes part of an IP Subnet or includes multiple
IP Subnets.
-
Click OK to save the new boundary.
To configure a boundary
-
In the Configuration Manager console, click
Administration.
-
In the Administration workspace, expand
Hierarchy Configuration, and click Boundaries.
-
Select the boundary you want to modify.
-
On the Home tab, in the Properties group,
click Properties.
-
In the Properties dialog box for the boundary,
select the General tab to edit the Description or
Type for the boundary. You can also change the scope of a
boundary by editing the network locations for the boundary. For
example, for an Active Directory site boundary you can specify a
new Active Directory site name.
-
Select the Site Systems tab to view the site
systems that are associated with this boundary. You cannot change
this configuration from the properties of a boundary.
| Tip |
| For a site system server to be listed as a site system for a
boundary, the site system server must be specified as a content
location for at least one boundary group that includes this
boundary. Content location is configured on the References
tab of a boundary group. |
-
Select the Boundary Groups tab to modify the
boundary group membership for this boundary:
- To add this boundary to one or more boundary
groups, click Add, select the check box for one or more
boundary groups, and then click OK.
- To remove this boundary from a boundary
group, select the boundary group and click Remove.
-
Click OK to close the boundary properties and
save the configuration.
Create and Configure Boundary Groups
for Configuration Manager
When you configure boundary groups, you add one or more
boundaries to the boundary group, and then configure optional
settings for use by clients located on those boundaries. The
configurations are for site assignment and content location for
clients when they are on the intranet.
 Note |
| Clients that are on the Internet or configured as Internet-only
clients do not use boundaries and boundary groups. These clients
cannot use automatic site assignment when they are on the Internet
and will download content from any distribution point in their
assigned site that allows client connections from the
Internet. |
| Configuration |
Details |
|
Site assignment
|
Site assignment is used by clients that use automatic site
assignment to find an appropriate site to join, based on the
clients current network location. After a client assigns to a site,
the client will not change that site assignment. For example, if
the client roams to a new network location that is represented by a
boundary in a boundary group with a different site assignment, the
client’s assigned site will remain unchanged.
When Active Directory System Discovery discovers a new resource,
network information for the discovered resource is evaluated
against the boundaries in boundary groups. This process associates
the new resource with an assigned site for use by the client push
installation method.
|
|
Content location
|
Content location is used by clients to identify available
distribution points or state migration points, based upon the
client’s current network location
|
When you configure boundary groups for site assignment,
ensure that each boundary in a boundary group is not a member of
another boundary group with a different site assignment. Boundaries
that are associated with more than one assigned site are called
overlapping boundaries. Overlapping boundaries are not supported
for site assignment. However, overlapping boundaries are supported
for content location.
- Overlapping boundaries for site assignment
can prevent clients from joining the site you expect.
- Overlapping boundaries for content location
can provide clients access to content from multiple content
sources.
| Note |
| To help avoid overlapping boundaries for site assignment,
consider using of one set of boundary groups for site assignment,
and a second set of boundary groups for content location. |
To create a boundary group
-
In the Configuration Manager console, click
Administration.
-
In the Administration workspace, expand
Hierarchy Configuration, and click Boundary
Groups.
-
On the Home tab, in the Create group,
click Create Boundary Group.
-
In the Create Boundary Group dialog box, select
the General tab and specify a Name for this boundary
group.
-
Click OK to save the new boundary group.
To configure a boundary group
-
In the Configuration Manager console, click
Administration.
-
In the Administration workspace, expand
Hierarchy Configuration, and click Boundary
Groups.
-
Select the boundary group you want to modify.
-
On the Home tab, in the Properties group,
click Properties.
-
In the Properties dialog box for the boundary
group, select the General tab to modify the boundaries that
are members of this boundary group:
- To add boundaries, click Add, select
the check box for one or more boundaries, and click OK.
- To remove boundaries, select the boundary and
click Remove.
-
Select the References tab to modify the site
assignment and content location configuration:
- To enable this boundary group for use by
clients for site assignment, select the check box for Use this
boundary group for site assignment, and then select a site from
the Assigned site dropdown box.
- To configure content location settings for
this boundary group:
- Click Add, and then select the check box for one or more
servers. The servers are added as content location servers for this
boundary group. Only servers that have a distribution point or
state migration point installed on them are available.
| Note |
| You can select any combination of distribution points and state
migration points from any site in the hierarchy. Selected site
systems are listed on the Site Systems tab in the properties
of each boundary that is a member of this boundary group. |
- To remove a server as a content location from this boundary
group, select the server and then click Remove.
| Note |
| To stop use of this boundary group for content location you
must remove all servers listed as site system servers for content
location. |
- To change the network connection speed for a content location
site system server for this boundary group, select the server and
then click Change Connection.
| Note |
| By default, the connection speed for each site system is
Fast, but can be changed to Slow. The network
connection speed and the configuration of a deployment determine
whether a client can download content from the server. |
-
Click OK to close the boundary group properties
and save the configuration.
To associate a content deployment
server with a boundary group
-
In the Configuration Manager console, click
Administration.
-
In the Administration workspace, expand Site
Hierarchy, and click Boundary Groups.
-
Select the boundary group you want to modify.
-
On the Home tab, in the Properties group,
click Properties.
-
In the Properties dialog box for the boundary
group, select the References tab.
-
Under Content location click Add, select
the check box for the site system servers you want to associate
with this boundary group, and then click OK.
| Note |
| Only site system servers that have installed a distribution
point or state migration point are available. |
-
Click OK to close the dialog box and save the
boundary group configuration.
To configure a fallback site for
automatic site assignment
-
In the Configuration Manager console, click
Administration.
-
In the Administration workspace, expand Site
Configuration and select Sites.
-
On the Home tab, in the Sites group,
click Hierarchy Settings.
-
On the General tab, select the checkbox for
Use a fallback site, and then select a site from the
Fallback site drop-down list.
-
Click OK to save the configuration.
See Also
