Server locator points are used in a Configuration Manager 2012 hierarchy to complete client site assignment on the intranet and help clients find management points when they cannot find that information through Active Directory Domain Services.

Intranet clients use Active Directory Domain Services as their preferred method to complete site assignment and find management points. However, clients must use a server locator point if the Active Directory schema is not extended for Configuration Manager 2012 or the site is not published to Active Directory Domain Services of the client forest.

For more information about site assignment, see About Client Site Assignment in Configuration Manager 2012.

Note
You need only one server locator point for the Configuration Manager 2012 hierarchy, even if you have multiple sites. In a multi-site hierarchy, install the server locator point in the central site. If you install a server locator point in the middle of the hierarchy, it will have no knowledge of sites above it in the hierarchy.

You do not need to install a server locator point if both of the following conditions apply:

• You have extended the Active Directory schema for Configuration Manager 2012, and all sites in the hierarchy are published to Active Directory Domain Services.
  
  
• You do not manage Workgroup clients.
  
  

Additionally, you do not need to install a server locator point if all sites are configured for Internet-based client management.

Install a server locator point if either of the following conditions applies:

• You have not extended the Active Directory schema for Configuration Manager 2012 or not all sites in the hierarchy are published to Active Directory Domain Services.
  
  
• You have Workgroup clients.
  
  

For information about how to create the server locator point, see How to Configure Site Systems for Client Deployment in Configuration Manager 2012.

The fallback status point in Configuration Manager 2012 always communicates with clients using HTTP which uses unauthenticated connections and sends data in clear text. This makes the fallback status point vulnerable to attack, particularly when it is used with Internet-based client management. To help reduce the attack surface, always dedicate a server to running the fallback status point and do not install other site system roles on the same server in a production environment.

Install a fallback status point in the site if all of the following conditions apply:

• You want client computers to report any failures to the site database, particularly when they cannot contact a management point.
  
  
• You want to utilize the Configuration Manager 2012 client deployment reports which use data sent by the fallback status point.
  
  
• You have a dedicated server for this site system role, and have additional security measures to help protect the server from attack.
  
  
• The benefits of using a fallback status point outweigh any security risks associated with unauthenticated connections and clear text transfers over HTTP traffic.
  
  

Do not install a fallback status point in the site if the following condition applies:

• The security risks of running a Web site with unauthenticated connections and clear text transfers outweigh the benefits of identifying client communication problems.
  
  

Determine If You Need to Configure Throttle Settings for the Fallback Status Point

Each computer that successfully installs the Configuration Manager 2012 client sends the following four state messages to the fallback status point:

• Client deployment started
  
  
• Client deployment succeeded
  
  
• Client assignment started
  
  
• Client assignment succeeded
  
  

In addition, computers that fail to install or assign the Configuration Manager 2012 client will send further state messages.

For a client deployment up to 20,000 computers, this could result in 80,000 state messages being sent to the fallback status point. Because the default throttling configuration allows 10,000 state messages to be sent to the fallback status point each 3600 seconds (1 hour), state messages might become backlogged on the fallback status point as a result of the throttling configuration.

You also need to take into account the available network bandwidth between the fallback status point and the site server, and the processing power of the site server to process a high number of state messages.

Consider changing one of the throttle values for the fallback status point if the following condition applies:

• You calculate that the default throttle values will not process state messages from your client deployment in a reasonable timescale.
  
  

Reset the throttle values for the fallback status point if either of the following conditions applies:

• You calculate that the current throttle values are higher than required to process state messages from the fallback status point.
  
  
• You find that the current throttle settings result in a high CPU load on your Configuration Manager 2012 site server.
  
  

Important
Do not change the fallback status point throttle settings unless you understand the consequences. For example, if you increase the throttle settings too high, you could cause high CPU load on your Configuration Manager 2012 site server that negatively affects the operation of your site.

For information about how to change the default throttling values for the fallback status point throttle, see How to Configure Site Systems for Client Deployment in Configuration Manager 2012.

Concepts