ConfigMgr for Deployment - Rough Sizing Guidelines
I have been doing some sizing work for a customer around System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (ConfigMgr) and its use specifically for deployment (Windows Vista)– there seems to be some conflicting info in many different places – however the tables below gives some very rough guidelines pulled from different sources...thought it may be useful
| Site System | Maximum recommended number per site |
| Clients | Up to 200,000 per hierarchy |
| Primary Site Server | Up to 100,000 directly assigned clients |
| Secondary Site Server | Up to 500 secondary sites per primary |  Note
| | The number of secondary sites recommended per primary site is based on reasonably well connected and reliable WAN network connections. Unreliable server hardware or network connections can dramatically reduce this number. | |
| Management Point | Up to 25,000 clients |  Note
| | To support more than 25,000 clients in one site, management point site systems can be configured to use Network Load Balancing (NLB). | |
| Distribution Point | Up to 4,000 clients |  Note
| | The number of clients that one distribution point can support is dependent on network speed, disk performance, and software distribution package size. | |
| Branch distribution point | Up to 2,000 per site, each capable of supporting up to 100 clients. |
| Software update point | Up to 25,000 clients |  Note
| | To support more than 25,000 clients in one site, software update point site systems can be configured to use Network Load Balancing (NLB). | |
| System Health Validator point | Up to 100,000 clients (or one per hierarchy if less than 100,000 clients) |
| Fallback status point | Up to 100,000 clients (or one per site) |
ConfigMgr Site Server
(running site server all roles not specifically listed on other servers)
| Component | Capacity |
| CPU | Twin Processor with Quad Cores 2.2 Ghz |
| Disk | OS 80 GB Raid 1 ConfigMgr Application 80 GB RAID 10 or 5 Distribution Point 250 GB RAID 10 or 5 Data drive can be SAN or DAS if external |
| LAN | 100 /1000 MB (sec) production LAN 1000 / MB or Fibre for NLN array Comms |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| OS | Windows Server 2003/8 Standard Edition 64 bit IIS Network Load Balancing |
| Licences | Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition or 2003 R2 with SP2 ConfigMgr site server licence (only 1 required fo this implementation) |
ConfigMgr Site Database Server
(running site server all roles not specifically listed on other servers)
| Component | Capacity |
| CPU | Twin Processor with Quad Cores 2.2 Ghz |
| Disk | OS 80 GB Raid 1 Data 300 GB RAID 10 or 5 SQL Logs 300 GB RAID 10 or 5 Data drive can be SAN or DAS if external |
| LAN | 100 /1000 MB (sec) production LAN 1000 / MB or Fibre for NLN array Comms |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| OS Components | Windows Server 2003/8 Enterprise Edition 64 bit IIS Network Load Balancing |
| Licences | Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition (if clustering) or 2003 R2 with SP2 SQL Server 2005 Enterprise (if clustering support is needed otherwise standard will suffice) 20,000 ConfigMgr Client Access Licences |
ConfigMgr Management Point Servers
| Component | Capacity |
| CPU | Twin Processor with Dual Cores 2.2 Ghz |
| Disk | OS 80 GB Raid 1 Data 80 GB RAID 10 or 5 Data drive can be SAN or DAS if external |
| LAN | 100 /1000 MB (sec) production LAN 1000 / MB or Fibre for NLN array Comms |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| OS Components | Windows Server 2003/8 Standard Edition 64 bit IIS Network Load Balancing |
| Licences | Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition or 2003 R2 with SP2 |
ConfigMgr Software Update Point Server
| Component | Capacity |
| CPU | Twin Processor with Dual Cores 2.2 Ghz |
| Disk | OS 80 GB Raid 1 Data 80 GB RAID 10 or 5 Data drive can be SAN or DAS if external |
| LAN | 100 /1000 MB (sec) production LAN 1000 / MB or Fibre for NLN array Comms |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| OS Components | Windows Server 2003/8 Standard Edition 64 bit IIS Network Load Balancing Windows Software Update Services |
| Licences | Servers 2008 / 3 OS |
ConfigMgr Remote/Branch Infrastructure Options
| Branch Size (# users) | ConfigMgr Remote Architecture | Capacity / Licence Requirements |
| 0-3 users | No local infrastructure | No ConfigMgr specific licence required beyond the ConfigMgr CAL |
| 3-25 users | Single Branch Distribution Point | No ConfigMgr specific licence required beyond the SCCM CAL |
| 25 – 100 users | Dual Branch Distribution Points (fault tolerance and capacity as images and packages will be extensively used) | No ConfigMgr specific licence required beyond the SCCM CAL |
| 100 – 1000 users | Distribution Point | Windows Server 2003 / 2008 NTFS volume with 100 GB of capacity. Can leverage existing file / application server capacity. No ConfigMgr specific licence required |
| 1000 – 2000 users | Secondary SCCM site Server | No ConfigMgr specific licence required beyond the SCCM CAL. Windows Server 2003 / 2008 server licence |
| 2000 users + | Primary site server | ConfigMgr site server |
This post was contributed by Richard Smith a Senior Consultant with Microsoft Services, UK.
