SCCM - Sites

Typically, in Configuration world, a site is a collection of a site server, site system roles, client machines, resources and a SQL server database.

There are several types of SCCM 2007 sites. Let’s start from the top of the hierarchy.

Central Site:

A Central Site is a Configuration Manager Primary Site that resides at the top of the Configuration Manager hierarchy. All the collected information comes from the child to the parent and is collected by the Central Site’s Configuration Manager Database. The Central Site can administer any site below it in the hierarchy and can send data down to those sites. A central site has no parent site. However, a central site has child and grandchild sites collects the information from these sites.

Primary Site:

A Primary site stores all the SCCM data, which collects from all the sites under the primary site.

Typically, an MS SQL server will be installed on the primary site server or primary site has access to the SQL server database to store the data.

Main features of a primary site are –

Has access to MS SQL Server database

Can be accessed using the Config Manager Admin console

Clients will be assigned directly to the primary site

Secondary Site:

A secondary site attached to a primary site and managed from the console, which is attached to the primary site. A secondary site has no SQL database attached to it. So Secondary site collects the information from the clients and forwards the information to the primary site.

Main features of Secondary site are-

No SQL server database attached to it

Can be administered  using Config Manager admin console

Clients can be assigned directly to a secondary site

Parent Site:

A parent site is a primary site that has one or more sites attached to it in the hierarchy. Only a primary site can have child sites. A parent site contains the information about its lower level sites.

A parent site has the ability to administer any child site below it in the hierarchy.

Child Site:

A child site is a site that is attached to a site above it in the hierarchy. The site it reports to its parent site and administer by that parent site. A child site can have only one parent site. A child site is either a primary site or a secondary site.