Workstations as Distribution Points

Workstations as Distribution Points : Branch distribution points were first introduced in Configuration Manager 2007, and as of Configuration Manager 2012 they are gone! Don’t worry though; they have been replaced with the ability to directly configure any Windows 7 workstation as a distribution point. This may seem like simply a cosmetic difference—and in some ways that is true, but not totally—there are some significant differences.

The ability to specify a workstation as a distribution point directly means that instead of having a client component to fill the distribution point role, as was the case with Configuration Manager 2007 branch distribution points, now the client doesn’t even have to be present! One limitation of distribution points located on workstation systems is the limit of 20 simultaneous connections. This is a workstation operating system limitation rather than a limit imposed by Configuration Manager.