In this demonstration, we'll take a look at BranchCache,
and I will, again, come to our Server Manager dashboard,
and let's just quickly take a look at the specific
roles and features that we need here.
I'm on localmem1, and if we browse the list here,
we have under File and Storage Services,
File and iSCSI Services, we have BranchCache for Network Files,
and this is what you're going to need for the file server BranchCache scenario,
That's what I definitely want to do.
If we click Next and take a look at Features,
this is where you have the BranchCache feature, and this is what you
would use for either the web server or the bits context.
I think I misspoke earlier in the slides where I said that
you needed branch cache for files for HTTP.
No, you do branch cache for files only for the file server,
the hash distribution scenario,
and then we need this guy here if we're doing bits or the HTTP web server.
So I've got that installed.
Now, the two ways that this is going to surface,
like I said, is number one in Group Policy,
so let's go into my MMC here,
I've got a domain‑scoped policy ready to go here called BranchCache Policy.
Let's edit this.
And the path we're looking at here is Computer Configuration,
Policies, Administrative Templates, Network,
and if we go to Lanman Server, if we're going to do BranchCache for files,
we have to enable the Hash Publication for BranchCache on your content server,
and that's going to be enabled,
and we can choose here Allow hash publications for all shared folders,
Allow hash publication only for shared folders on which BranchCache is enabled,
or Disallow hash publication.
Well, I don't want to go crazy because this is,
you know, CPU overhead,
so I'm just going to do hash publication for shared
folders that have BranchCache enabled,
and I'll show you how to configure that as well.
The other options are under the same path network, here, under BranchCache.
And number one, we have Turn on BranchCache on clients.
This would be in your GPO that's going to affect
your client or consumer machines,
and so we want to enable that for any domain workstations
that'll be relevant in your branch offices.
And then the help here tells us that we also have to
configure what topology we're going to use.
Are we using Distributed Cache, Hosted Cache, or what?
Well, we've got that in here as well.
Set BranchCache Hosted Cache mode, we enable that,
and type the name of your hosted cache server.
Now, presumably if you have a complex environment with multiple branch offices,
you're going to have multiple GPO's with multiple hosted cache servers here.
That's a single server reference here.
And I would recommend you use a fully qualified domain name like I did.
Lastly,
to make sure that the BranchCache service is as easy to
find in Active Directory as possible,
we have Enable Automated Hosted Cache Discovery by Service Connection Point.
This makes it easier for your client computers to determine the
BranchCache setting of their file server in their location.
See,
so I wasn't kidding when I said that you configure the line
share of your BranchCache through Group Policy.
Lastly, we can come here in Server Manager to the File and Storage Service,
let me focus on localmem1, and we'll go to the Shares panel here,
and we can either create a new share directly in Server Manager,
or we can modify the properties of an existing share.
So here, we can browse localdc1and localmem1.
Let me right‑click new‑hire‑paperwork, go to Properties on localdc1,
and if we go to Settings,
notice that we can choose to Allow caching of share and
Enable BranchCache on the file share.
And this is important because you'll recall I
designated localdc1 for hash distribution.
So that's how you can mark a shared folder as being available for BranchCache,
and the users don't have to do anything.
They can navigate to that share inside or outside of DFS,
and the BranchCache policy that you've specified,
hosted cache or distributed cache, will take effect. Let me click OK to complete that configuration.