How to use GPOs to configure BITS by branches?

[SammyBar]

Hi,

My enterprise is comprised of several remote branches linked by a slow WAN.
Recently I had problems with WSUS service that clogs the available
bandwitdth during peak hours. I want to configure the BITS on a per branch
basis to limit the bandwidth used by WSUS. My problem is I'm not proficent
with GPO and I can't figure a strategy on how to configure my Active
Directory to assign different BITS configuration to each branch. I only
configured one GPO for basic usage with WSUS but the policies I'd set up
then where global to all PCs in the domain. Now I need to organize the
domain in branches and create a BITS GPO for each branch but I don't know
how to do it. I'd like to know the basic guidelines to do it. I've no time
to dig on the full documentation. My questions are:
How can I group computers by branches? (My Active Directory Users and
Computers snap-in shows all computers flat). May be by creating groups of
computers similar to groups of users?
How can I assign GPO objects to each group of computers?

My AD environment is the following:
Only one forest/organization
Windows 2000 servers
WinXP clients

I have information on how to configure individual computers for BITS, but
there are many PCs to configure.
Any hint is welcomed. Thanks in advance
Sammy

 

[Guest]

In order to manage BITS throttling settings, BITS 2 must be installed. BITS
2 is included with Windows XP SP2. For Windows XP Sp1 systems, Microsoft
patch KB842773 must be installed.



With BITS 2, it is possible to manage BITS through five registry entries.
These entries are:



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\BITS]

"EnableBITSMaxBandwidth"

"MaxTransferRateOnScheduleâ€

"MaxBandwidthValidFrom"

"MaxBandwidthValidTo"

"MaxTransferRateOffSchedule"



Here is a breakdown of these registry entries:

EnableBITSMaxBandwidth – Values 0 or 1. Turns on BITS throttling
MaxTransferRateOnSchedule – Configures the Maximum amount of bandwidth that
BITS can use during working hours. This is configured in Kb/s
MaxBandwidthValidFrom – The time when you want the maximum amount of BITS
throttling to start. The time should be entered in 24 hour format
MaxBandwidthValidTo – The time when you want the maximum amount of BITS
throttling to end. The time should be entered in 24 hour format
MaxTransferRateOffSchedule – The maximum amount of bandwidth that BITS
should use during non working hours. This is configured in Kb/s


These registry settings can also be managed through Group Policy. In order
to manage BITS through Group Policy, the Windows XP SP2 group policy
templates need to be installed.



The Group Policy settings for BITS are located at: Computer Configuration,
Administrative Templates, Network, Background Intelligent Transfer Service.



There are two settings that can be applied:

Maximum network bandwidth that BITS uses
Timeout (days) for inactive jobs


In reference to how to apply per branch, you would need to use OU's within
Active Directory Users and Computers to organize and seperate the computer
accounts that are located at each branch, then apply BITS policy settings or
push out registry settings with GPO's applied to each OU.

The info above came from an SMS admin site, there is also a BITS auditing
and reporting tool found here:
http://www.smsutils.com/Portals/1/bitsaudittool.zip