SCCM Roles applicable for Central, Primary & Secondary Sites

The below table from Microsoft will help us to identify the Site System roles that we can install at each type of site in a System Center 2012 Configuration Manager hierarchy, and whether the site system role provides functionality for its site only, or for the entire hierarchy. We can install any supported site system role on the site server computer or on a remote site system server at a central administration site or primary site. At a secondary site, only the distribution point is supported on a remote site system server.

Site system role	Central administration site	Child primary site	Stand-alone primary site	Secondary site	Site-specific or Hierarchy-wide option
Application Catalog Web Service Point	No	Yes	Yes	No	Hierarchy
Application Catalog Website Point	No	Yes	Yes	No	Hierarchy
Asset Intelligence Synchronization Point1	Yes	No	Yes	No	Hierarchy
Certificate Registration Point	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Hierarchy
Distribution Point2,5	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Site
Fallback Status Point	No	Yes	Yes	No	Hierarchy
Management Point2,3,5	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Site
Endpoint Protection Point	Yes	No	Yes	No	Hierarchy
Enrollment Point	No	Yes	Yes	No	Site
Enrollment Proxy Point	No	Yes	Yes	No	Site
Out of Band Service Point	No	Yes	Yes	No	Site
Reporting Services Point	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Hierarchy
Software Update Point4,5	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Site
State Migration Point5	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Site
System Health Validator Point	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Hierarchy
Windows Intune Connector	Yes	No	Yes	No	Hierarchy

¹ Configuration Manager supports only a single instance of this site system role in a hierarchy.

² By default, when you install a secondary site, a management point and a distribution point are installed on the secondary site server.

³ This role is required to support clients in Configuration Manager. Secondary sites do not support more than one management point and this management point cannot support mobile devices that are enrolled by Configuration Manager.

⁴ When your hierarchy contains a central administration site, install a software update point at this site that synchronizes with Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) before you install a software update point at any child primary site. When you install software update points at a child primary site, configure it to synchronize with the software update point at the central administration site.

⁵ Prior to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, all site system roles at a secondary site must be located on the site server computer. The only exception is the distribution point. Secondary sites support installing distribution points on the site server computer and on remote computers. Beginning with System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, the state migration point can also be installed on the site server computer or on a remote computer, and can be co-located with a distribution point.

1. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg712282.aspx#Plan_Where_to_Install_Site
2. http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/SCCM-2012-Roles-applicable-727614d7

All about Branch Distribution Points on SCCM 2007

Recently I came across many issues related to "Branch Distribution Points" on SCCM 2007 and was on a search for more documentation on BDP. I hereby sharing my search results which might be beneficial for my future search as well for others.

• Carol Bailey on TechNet blog has documented some most valuable information about BDP: 

FAQs for Branch Distribution Points: 
http://blogs.technet.com/b/wemd_ua_-_sms_writing_team/archive/2008/07/27/faqs-for-branch-distribution-points.aspx

• TechNet Article by PaddyMaddy

DP VS Secondary Site VS BDP - In SCCM 2007 vs SCCM 2012
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/5292.dp-vs-secondary-site-vs-bdp-in-sccm-2007-vs-sccm-2012.aspx

• Carlos Santiago on TechNet blog has given additional information on Refreshing vs Updating a package on BDP: 

How do we refresh a package located on a Branch Distribution Point?

http://blogs.technet.com/b/carlossantiago/archive/2008/05/16/how-do-we-refresh-a-package-located-on-a-branch-distribution-point.aspx 

Other Useful TechNet articles about BDP:

Choose Between a Standard and Branch Distribution Point
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb932184.aspx 

About On-Demand Package Distribution
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632582.aspx 

How to Prestage Packages on a Branch Distribution Point
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb681046.aspx 

Brief description of each Site System Role

Site System Role	Description	Required?
Site server	The role assigned to the server on which Configuration Manager 2007 Setup has been run successfully.	Yes. Every site must have exactly one site server role.
Site database server	The role assigned to the computer running a supported version of Microsoft SQL Server and hosting the Configuration Manager 2007 site database. You can use only Microsoft SQL Server, Standard or Enterprise Edition, to host the site database. SQL Server Express editions are not supported for hosting the site database.	Every primary site requires a site database server role, but secondary sites do not require them.
Configuration Manager console	Any computer running the Configuration Manager console.	No. The Configuration Manager console is automatically installed by default on primary site servers during Setup. You can install additional Configuration Manager consoles on remote computers—for example, the workstation of the Configuration Manager administrator. However, some organizations write their own user interface using the Configuration Manager software developer kit (SDK) and never use the Configuration Manager console.
SMS Provider computer	The Configuration Manager console does not access the database directly, but instead uses Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) as an intermediary layer. The SMS Provider is the WMI Provider for Configuration Manager.	Yes, for primary sites. When you install a primary site, you select which computer will host the SMS Provider—usually, it's the site server or the site database server.
Component server	Any computer hosting a Configuration Manager 2007 site role that requires installing special Configuration Manager 2007 services.	The only site system role that does not require the installation of a special Configuration Manager 2007 service is the distribution point.
Distribution point	A site system role that stores packages for clients to install.	Required for the following features: software distribution, software updates, and advertised task sequences used in operating system deployment.
Fallback status point	A site system role that gathers state messages from clients that cannot install properly, cannot assign to a Configuration Manager 2007 site, or cannot communicate securely with their assigned management point.	Not required, but very helpful to troubleshoot issues with clients.
Management point	The site system role that serves as the primary point of contact between Configuration Manager 2007 clients and the Configuration Manager 2007 site server.	Every site with intranet clients must have one default management point, though the default management point might be a cluster of several site systems configured as management points.
PXE service point	A site system role that has been configured to respond to and initiate operating system deployments from computers whose network interface card is configured to allow PXE boot requests.	Required only for operating system deployment using PXE boot requests.
Reporting point	A site system role hosts the Report Viewer component for Web-based reporting functionality.	Required only to use the reporting feature. Reports are often helpful when diagnosing client issues.
Server locator point	A site system role that locates management points for Configuration Manager 2007 clients.	Required for some client deployment scenarios.
Software update point	A site system role assigned to a computer running Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).	Required only for the software update feature.
State migration point	A site system role that stores user state data while a computer is being migrated to a new operating system.	Required for operating system deployment when migrating user state.
System Health Validator point	The site system role assigned to a computer running Network Policy Service.	Required only for the Configuration Manager 2007 Network Access Protection feature.