Prestaged Content :

Prestaged Content : Managing content in bulk on distribution points has historically been challenging for Configuration Manager administrators. When replacing a distribution point server or even simply renaming, replacing, or modifying hard disks, administrators were faced with the need to redistribute all content to the new server. If connectivity to the server in question was either unreliable or slow, the challenge was even more pronounced. 

An initial thought to solve the problem might be to simply copy content from the current to the replacement server. A quick evaluation of this option reveals that it is not a workable choice because a simple file copy does not result in the needed database and other adjustments to reflect the new location of the content. Because of this, administrators either had to use external tools, such as preload pkgonsite.exe, or suffer through overloading the network while copying potentially gigabytes of content.

Configuration Manager 2012 introduces an option allowing content to be prestaged on distribution points. There is a specific wizard used to accomplish this——but the net effect is that in situations where bandwidth is challenging, content can now be natively staged locally on systems without such strain on network links.