Collections and Inventory in Multiple Site Server Hierarchies

5/4/2012

This section provides information and tips about how to work with device collections and inventory in multiple site server hierarchies. For overview information and examples of the types of hierarchies supported by Device Manager 2011, see Multiple Site Server Installation Examples.

When planning your hierarchy, determine which primary site servers you will use to manage devices. Make sure Device Manager 2011 is installed on those servers, in addition to the central site server. After the first inventory processes, inventory information collected about the devices in your organization flows up from the various site servers to the central site server. The collection definitions flow down the hierarchy from parent site servers to child site servers. Peer-level primary site servers in a hierarchy do not share inventory information, and will only share those collection definitions that flow down the hierarchy from a shared parent site server. Collection definitions with the same name will not be duplicated. These collection definitions are used to create device collections.

You can turn collections on or off. If you turn collections off, you may want to first create your own collections on the site server to which the devices are connected. For more information, see Turning Off Device Collections.

After you upgrade to the latest version of Device Manager 2011, Device Manager 2011 collections from before the upgrade are retained under the All Windows Embedded Devices (Legacy) collections node. After the first inventory cycle processes, delete the All Windows Embedded Legacy Devices collection on the central site server.

To manage devices, you must have access to a primary site server running Device Manager 2011. Once you start a process, such as a device imaging request, you can only modify that process from the server that you used to start the process. Otherwise, when you view the collection in Configuration Manager console, you will notice a small padlock icon next to the collection name, which indicates that the collection is locked.

See Also

Concepts

Collections and Inventory