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Q258924: Performance Problems Can Occur When a Child Site Reconnects

Article: Q258924
Product(s): Microsoft Systems Management Server
Version(s): winnt:2.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbsms200
Last Modified: 16-JUL-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Systems Management Server version 2.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

When a child site reconnects to a parent site, potentially significant network
performance issues can occur.

MORE INFORMATION
================

When a site connects to a parent, it bundles all the inventory in its database
into a large binary file and sends it to the new parent, where it is expanded
and written into the database. If there is a lot of inventory in the database,
this can cause a significant load. This is true whether or not the child was
connected to this parent site in the past.

Also, if the site has ever been connected to a parent previously, software
distribution information might be overwritten. Software distribution objects
such as packages and advertisements are locked when the definitions are
automatically sent to all child sites. During a connect sequence, a dump of all
these objects is sent to all child sites; as they are updated or created at the
parent, the changes are forwarded to all child sites. If a child site
disconnects, it gains ownership of these objects. At that point, the child site
can edit and modify them as best fit the needs of that site. If the site
reconnects to the site that originally owned the objects, or a child of the site
that originally owned the objects, a fresh dump of all software distribution
objects is forwarded to all child sites from the parent site that just had a
child connect to it.

These object definitions overwrite any changes made to the object definitions at
the parent while the child site was not connected. Any software distribution
object definitions that are created at the child site are unaffected by object
definitions created at a parent and forwarded down the hierarchy.

If the parent site, or any site above it in the path to the central site, was
ever reinstalled or recovered, software distribution information might be
overwritten as well. If a site is reinstalled without incrementing the serial
numbers for its software distribution objects, and if it has ever distributed
objects with the current serial numbers before, the earlier object definitions
are overwritten by the new definitions.

If a child site was disconnected from a parent before a recovery operation was
run without correctly incrementing the serial numbers, there is a risk of all
serial-number-based definitions being overwritten after the connection to the
parent is made. For example, if package number 14 originally distributed
Microsoft Office, and after the reinstallation package number 14 is used to
distribute Microsoft SQL Server, there is a possibility that SQL Server would be
installed on all of the clients that should have had Office installed.


Additional query words: prodsms

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Keywords          : kbsms200 
Technology        : kbSMSSearch kbSMS200
Version           : winnt:2.0
Issue type        : kbinfo

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