As globalization continues to expand, many companies now have branch offices located worldwide. For system administrators, managing the computers in these remote locations can be a challenging task. However, with our solution, managing computers across a WAN in remote locations becomes significantly easier via a single console. To manage computers in remote locations, you will need to set up remote offices within the Central Server based on your geographical presence.
The Remote Office in Unified Endpoint Management Solutions (UEMS) refers to a location-based group that represents the geographical locations of an organization’s network. Each geographical presence of an organization can be created as a different Remote Office in UEMS to manage the computers in each location. To know more about add remote office click here.
In UEMS, computers in different locations can either communicate directly with the Central Server or via a Distribution Server. Each method has its own advantages depending on factors like network bandwidth, proximity to the Central Server, and the number of computers being managed.
Two categories of Remote Offices depending on the communication method used by Agents to connect with the Central Server:Each computer communicates directly with the Central Server to receive updates, patches, configurations, and software. This method is best for LAN or smaller locations where computers are on the same network as the Central Server or where the WAN bandwidth is sufficient to handle multiple direct connections to download updates and configurations.
Distribution Server:
The Distribution Server is a lightweight software component installed on one of the computers in remote offices. This component acts as an intermediary between the Central Server and Agents for pulling updates, patches, and configurations from the Central Server and replicating them to Agents.
Note: The term "Distribution Server" does not imply that it must be installed on a Windows Server OS. It can also be deployed on Windows client OS machines. For more information on the supported operating systems for the Distribution Server component, kindly refer to the following link
Note: The Distribution Server can download the task files from the Central Server and serve them to the Agents. For other activities, agents should have a connection to the Central Server.
This method is ideal for remote offices or locations with limited WAN bandwidth where numerous computers need to be managed, particularly for large branch offices with many computers, ensuring efficient bandwidth usage.
Comparison matrix for Direct Communication and through the Distribution Server for different aspects.
| Aspect | Direct Communication | Through Distribution Server |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Local offices or small offices with sufficient bandwidth / Less than 50 computers | Remote/branch offices with limited WAN bandwidth or large numbers of computers (more than 50) |
| Setup Complexity | Simple, no intermediary server needed | Requires setting up a Distribution Server in each remote office |
| Bandwidth Usage | High, as each device connects directly to the Central Server | Optimized, as only the Distribution Server communicates with the Central Server |
| Server Load | Higher, as more computers contact the server directly | Lower, as fewer direct connections are made to the Central Server |
| Scalability | May strain bandwidth in large environments | Scales well for large remote offices with many computers |
