Data Priorities
Configuration Manager data is classified by priority:
You can configure the
priority of certain data such as status messages, packages, and
advertisements. Replication of status messages can consume a large amount of network
bandwidth. You should consider this in tuning the Status Message System,
discussed in the next section.
Tuning Status Message Replication
Status messages
provide one of the primary means of looking at the health of your
Configuration Manager infrastructure and identifying any problems that
may occur. Nearly all Configuration Manager components generate status
messages to report various milestones and events. Configuration Manager
clients send status messages to their management point, site systems
send status messages to the site server, and child sites can replicate
messages to their parent site. You can choose which messages to
replicate and the data priority for each type of message sent between
sites. Status messages sent up the hierarchy can account for much of the
overall site-to-site traffic. This is especially true when child sites
have a large number of clients. To limit the impact of status message
replication, it is important to tune the Status Message System.
The most important
settings for status message replication are the status filter rules.
Each status message received by a site passes through the site’s status filter,
which evaluates the message to determine whether it matches the
criteria of each of its status filter rules. A match invokes the action
you specify for the rule. One of the actions you can specify is to
replicate the message to the parent site.
You can configure
status filter rules in the ConfigMgr console under System Center
Configuration Manager -> Site Database -> Site Management ->
<Site Code> <Site Name> -> Site Settings -> Status Filter Rules. As shown in Figure 14, two “Replicate all” status filter rules are among the rules enabled by default:
The rule to replicate client settings is higher on the list in Figure 15,
showing that it has a higher priority and will be processed before the
rule to replicate all other messages at medium priority. Messages
received from clients will match the first rule and are replicated to
the parent site at low priority. All other status messages will be
replicated at medium priority. You can modify these rules depending on
your requirements. As an example, if local administrators perform all
client troubleshooting at a particular site, you may decide not to
replicate status messages originating on client systems from that site
to its parent site.
To stop replicating client messages, perform these steps:
1. | Right-click the rule.
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2. | Choose Properties.
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3. | Select the Actions tab in the Status Filter Rule Properties page.
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4. | Tick the box at the bottom for Do not process lower-priority status filter rules.
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By changing the action from Replicate to Parent Site to Do not process lower-priority status filter rules (as shown in Figure 5.15),
you can prevent these messages from being processed by the
lower-priority rule Replicate all other messages at medium priority. The
result is that client messages will be discarded. This prevents using
queries and reports at higher-level sites to view client status and
deployment results.
Note that the
modified rule is still named Replicate all SMS Client messages at low
priority, although it no longer actually replicates the messages. To
change the name of the rule, you would need to delete or disable the
existing rule and create a new rule with the appropriate name.
You can
create new rules to control replication of specific types of messages.
To create a new status filter rule, perform the following steps:
1. | Right-click
the Status Filter Rules node in the console tree and then select New
Status Filter Rule to initiate the New Status Filter Rule Wizard.
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2. | Name the rule Replicate Milestones and Informational Messages at Low Priority and check the Message Type and Severity boxes. With the selections shown in Figure 16, the filter will process all messages of type Milestone or with a severity of Informational.
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3. | Choose the action Replicate to Parent Site / Replication Priority: Low, as shown in Figure 17.
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4. | The
wizard will display a summary page for the new rule and ask you to
confirm your choice. This completes the New Status Filter Rule Wizard.
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After completing the
wizard, you need to change the priority of the rule so it processes in
the correct order. The rule should run after the rule that discards
client messages, but before the catchall rule to replicate at medium
priority.
Right-click the rule in the list and choose Increment Priority. The list of rules shown in Figure 18 will perform the following replication actions:
All client messages will be dropped.
Informational
and milestone messages will be replicated only during times when the
sender address setting allows sending low-priority data.
All other messages will be replicated during times when the sender address setting allows sending medium priority data.
In
addition to individual status messages, each Configuration Manager site
maintains status summary data. Status summary data displays the overall
status of a system, component or advertisement as OK, Warning, or
Critical based on the number and type of messages received. Similar to
individual status messages, you can decide whether to replicate status
summary data to the parent site and the data priority to assign to the
replication.
Data Compression and Site Planning
Whereas
network traffic between sites is compressed, traffic within a site is
not compressed. You should consider the advantages of compression,
scheduling, and data priorities when deciding whether to place secondary
sites at remote locations. You may want to use a secondary site to
provide services that otherwise are provided by site systems belonging
to the parent site, particularly distribution points.
