Chapter 9. Ensuring that ConfigMgr clients can access content
By now, you may have noticed that ConfigMgr clients interact with the ConfigMgr server hierarchy via a range of dedicated server roles, such as the Management Point role for client communications and policy. The reason for this is that, depending on the environment within which it functions, ConfigMgr can be a highly distributed system, with multiple server roles needed to support a large number of clients located in many places. The ConfigMgr server can support multiple server roles, such as Management Points, in order to cater to such a dispersed environment. Another critical server role that contributes to this modular approach to management is the distribution point (DP). As shown in figure 9.1, this chapter is all about DPs and content—not as sexy as deploying applications with the flair of a Jedi in sunglasses, perhaps, but absolutely vital to the success of any and all ConfigMgr environments.
Chapter 8 briefly touched on distribution points, when you distributed application content to the DP on CM01 so that the ConfigMgr client on CLIENT01 was able to download it. Had the application content not been on the DP, CLIENT01 wouldn’t have been able to download and install the application—a situation I’ve seen many times in enterprise environments.