ConfigMgr 2007: Multihomed Configuration Manager 2007 clients do not access local Distribution Points

If a Configuration Manager 2007 client has multiple network cards and multiple IP addresses software packages will not access the Distribution Point.  This will happen if one of the boundaries has been marked as slow and the advertisement is configured to not run the program when connected to a slow or unreliable netowork boundary. 

If a Configuration Manager 2007 client has multiple network cards (possibly a LAN network card and a wireless network card), and therefore has multiple IP addresses, the IP address used to evaluate client site assignment is nondeterministic.  This is by design, http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb681005.aspx

The way Distribution Point location works is such that when an advanced client resides in both a local and roaming boundary at the same time, it always makes the most conservative decision about determining its location relative to available Distribution Points. So in the case where the client has a foot in both a local and a remote boundary, it determines the client’s location state as remote, even though one of the system’s network interfaces exists in local boundary. Because it’s remote, the restriction of ‘do not run’ when no local DP is present placed on the advertisement of course prevents content access/download.

The reason this method is used is that since the Advanced Client relies on SMB or BITS as the underlying mechanism for accessing the DP, we cannot guarantee what network route those mechanisms may take to access DP content.  SMB or BITS may use that slow wireless link instead of the faster physical connection.

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