Install and Configure Hosted BranchCache for Web Services - SRV311 Part 4 of 5

Posted By: Kevin Remde | Sep 11th @ 12:01 AM | 11,984 Views | 2 Comments

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This is part 4 of a 5 part series of demos from the TechNet Webcast: How Windows Server 2008 R2 Affects Your IT Infrastructure.

BranchCache is a new capability available as a part of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. BranchCache helps increase the network responsiveness of applications, giving users in remote offices an experience more like working in the head office. When accessing content stored on Windows Server 2008 R2, users in a branch office don't need to wait as long to download files from headquarters. When IT enables BranchCache, a copy of data accessed from an intranet website or a file server is cached locally within the branch office. When another user on the same network requests the file, the user gets access to the content almost immediately as it is downloaded from the local cache rather than over a limited bandwidth connection back to headquarters.

In this demonstration I configure and demonstrate the "Hosted Cache" option, and use it to cache content coming from a web server.

You'll find a complete list of and links to all of the demos, plus links to the webcast and related resources here:
http://blogs.technet.com/kevinremde/archive/2009/09/04/check-out-my-5-new-windows-server-2008-r2-screencasts.aspx

Tags: Active Directory, branch cache, Branch Office, Group Policy, IT Pro, Windows Server 2008 R2

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bazmercer

Hi,

Was it me or did the branch cache not work in that demo? The transfer speeds were lower and the total time to download was longer too!

tshinder

Hmmm. It looked like BranchCache did not work in this demonstration -- the download speeds on subsequent downloads were actually slower than the initial download from the content server. We're the content servers BC enabled? I don't remember that being configured in this demo. Maybe in the next demo some of the bugs will be worked out? One suggestion -- instead of showing download speeds, why not use Network Monitor to show the protocols being used and the connections being established to the machine hosting the cached content -- in that way the vagaries of virtual networking aren't so much an issue, but will demonstrate that the connections to obtain the content are local, and not to the content server -- providing proof positive that BC is working on the clients.