In a Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 or Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 site hierarchy, each site must be able to communicate with its parent site and all of its child sites. This communications capability is one of the features that enables the product to scale to levels necessary to make it an Enterprise-wide solution.
Communication between sites is accomplished by using the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol (TCP/IP port 445) and is independent of the SMS 2003 security mode (Standard Security mode or Advanced Security mode) or the Configuration Manager 2007 site mode (native mode or mixed mode).
For sites to communicate, they must have a connectivity system (LAN protocols, RAS, or SNA Server) installed and configured according to the connectivity system's product documentation on all site servers in the SMS 2003 or Configuration Manager 2007 hierarchy. Then, for each site in the hierarchy, you must configure the site-to-site communications by creating and configuring the required addresses and senders.
SMS 2003 and Configuration Manager 2007 sites communicate using package routing. During package routing, communications are passed up and down a hierarchy from site to site. This means that a site needs addresses only for its parent site and child sites, but not for other upper-level, lower-level, or sibling sites.
Most of the individual SMS 2003 and Configuration Manager components use site-to-site communications to replicate data objects between sites. At times it is necessary to know at their deepest levels the functional details of the components and the data flow paths involved in site-to-site communications in order to effectively troubleshoot other components. This document explains these details and illustrates the data flow paths of these components. This information can help you to resolve issues more quickly and efficiently.
Target Audience
This document is intended for customers who need detailed knowledge in order to trace the replication flow of data objects between sites in SMS 2003 or Configuration Manager 2007.
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Terry McKinney | System Center Support Escalation Engineer
