Managed Computer Bandwidth Usage

In addition to the normal and usual network traffic, Windows Intune client computers use network bandwidth for Windows Intune-related requests. You should consider the amount of network usage by non-Windows Intune-related requests in addition to the requests made by Windows Intune client computers.

The average bandwidth usage for each client computer that is managed by Windows Intune depends on the following variables:

• Whether the client computer is newly enrolled in Windows Intune and has had no updates applied.
  
  
• What operating system is running on the client computer.
  
  
• Which types of applications are installed on the client computer.
  
  
• Whether the current day is the day where security updates are released or the day on which you normally approve updates. Every second Tuesday, Microsoft releases new security updates. On those days, or the day on which you normally approve security updates, bandwidth usage can be more than usual.
  
  
• Whether the network configuration includes a caching web proxy server. A caching web proxy server can be running Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway or Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server. A caching web proxy server caches both HTTP responses and binary downloads, and then uses the cached resources to answer requests from Windows Intune client computers. By avoiding duplicate downloads, a caching web proxy server can reduce the consumed Internet bandwidth.
  
  
• Whether the computer is able to use Windows 8 or Windows 7 BranchCache to download software or updates from peer computers on the same network. For more information, see, Windows Peer Distribution below.
  
  

The following table summarizes the average network bandwidth usage in megabytes (MB) for Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP, for the following cases:

• Windows Intune installation. This is a single occurrence for each client computer.
  
  
• Security-update Tuesday. This is a bi-monthly occurrence for each client computer.
  
  
• Daily average. Windows Intune client computers communicate daily with the Windows Intune service to check for updates and policies and to report status to the service.
  
  

These averages are based on the following assumptions:

• The values in the previous table for Windows 7 and Windows Vista are for x64-based computers. For x86-based computers, the values are slightly lower.
  
  
• Very large updates, such as service packs, are not included in this estimate.
  
  
• The client computer is regularly and currently updated.
  
  
• This estimate is based on the default selection of update products and classifications for Windows Intune. If you change the default selection, the bandwidth usage can vary.
  
  

Important
You should separately plan for peak traffic days such as security-update Tuesdays. A newly enrolled or deployed computer generally requires more initial bandwidth while updates are downloaded and installed.

Network bandwidth is used for the following general types of content delivery:

Each client computer makes separate network requests to the Windows Intune service. You can reduce the network bandwidth usage by:

• Using a caching proxy server at the edge of your network
  
  
• Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) network bandwidth usage limit
  
  
• Windows Peer Distribution
  
  

Using a caching proxy server at the edge of your network

A caching proxy server performs the following actions:

• Receives requests from client computers.
  
  
• Retrieves the content requested by the client computers.
  
  
• Caches the retrieved content for a period of time.
  
  
• When the next client computer requests the same resource, the caching proxy server returns the cached content, instead of retrieving the content again from the Internet.
  
  

Each caching proxy server has different configuration settings. When configuring a caching proxy server for use by Windows Intune client computers, you should adjust values that correspond to the following settings.

 

Setting	Recommended value	Notes
Cache size	5 to 30 gigabytes (GB)	This value depends on the number of client computers in your network. You should size the cache so that retrieved files do not prematurely expire and are deleted from the cache.
Individual cache file size	950 megabytes (MB)	This setting might not be available in all caching proxy servers.
Object types to cache	HTTP HTTPS BITS	Windows Intune packages are CAB files retrieved by BITS download over HTTP.

Important

Additional settings might be required to fully optimize a caching proxy server that Windows Intune client computers use. For example, in Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server and in Microsoft Threat Management Gateway (TMG), you must activate BITS caching for all downloads. You cannot do this in the console, and must use a script from the Windows Intune blog to activate this functionality. For more information, see Leveraging On Premise Web Proxies to Reduce Internet Bandwidth Usage.

Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) network bandwidth usage limit

Windows Peer Distribution

Windows Intune uses the peer distribution platform in Windows 8 (Pro, Enterprise), and Windows 7 (Pro, Enterprise, Ultimate), which is one of the technologies that powers BranchCache. BranchCache Distributed Cache mode is automatically enabled by the Windows Intune client. If there is a group policy that disables BranchCache, Windows Intune will not override the group policy setting and BranchCache will remain disabled.

The first computer to retrieve content from the Windows Intune service becomes a source for that content within the same subnet for other computers requesting the same content. When a second computer requests the same content, it downloads the content metadata from the Windows Intune service. The second computer then sends a request for the segment hashes on the local network to determine if any other client already has the data cached. Finding the first client, the second client retrieves the content locally from it.

Important
To improve peer distribution performance, it is strongly suggested to download this hotfix from the Microsoft website.

Important
Make sure you have not deployed a Group Policy or a Windows Intune Firewall policy that disables BranchCache Firewall exceptions.

For more information about BranchCache, see the Windows BranchCache TechNet site.