WSUS, Server 2008 R2 and BranchCache

BranchCache is a cool technology included with Windows Server 2008 R2 and the Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows 7 that allows clients in branch offices to create a peer-to-peer cloud of content that is usually stored at the head office location. Rather than having to pull content over a WAN link from a head office, BranchCache allows compatible clients to retrieve data hosted on head office servers from other clients in the branch office that have accessed the same content earlier.

BranchCache is only supported if the WSUS server is running Windows Server 2008 R2. Previous versions of Windows Server do not support BranchCache. BranchCache is also only supported by clients running Windows 7 Enterprise or Ultimate editions. You don't need to have a Windows Server 2008 R2 server in the branch office as you can use WSUS with BranchCache distributed mode.

To configure a Windows Server 2008 R2 WSUS server to support BranchCache, install the BranchCache feature on the server. Once the feature is installed, it will be used in deploying updates. You also need to configure BranchCache on the client computers. This can be accomplished through group policy. BranchCache policies are located in the Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesNetworkBranchCache node. You should configure two of the following three policies:

Once these steps have been taken, all future updates retrieved by client computers in the branch office will leverage BranchCache. This will substantially reduce the amount of update traffic pulled across the WAN link.To find out more about using BranchCache with WSUS, consult the following document on TechNet: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd939820(WS.10).aspx