Microsoft Connected Cache for Enterprise and Education preview

Delivery Optimization Microsoft Connected Cache is Microsoft’s comprehensive solution for minimizing Internet bandwidth consumption. Delivery Optimization acts as a distributed content source and Connected Cache acts as a dedicated content source. Organizations have benefited from these solutions by realizing significant bandwidth savings of up to 98% through Windows 11 upgrades, provisioning Windows Autopilot devices, installing Microsoft Intune applications, and deploying monthly updates.

until now, Connected caches can only be deployed to Configuration Managers that have distribution points.. With the launch of Connected Cache for Enterprise and Education into public preview on October 30, organizations will have increased flexibility to deploy Connected Cache directly on host systems running Windows Server, Windows clients, and Linux. [Ubuntu and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)].

Support for business-critical scenarios

Delivery Optimization is mostly known as a peer-to-peer delivery solution, but it is also a downloader that pulls update content for Windows from the cloud and provides business and education users with tools to manage bandwidth traffic, throttling features, and more.

Connected Cache technology complements Delivery Optimization with a dedicated software caching solution that can be deployed within corporate and academic networks. Once deployed on host computers within the network, Connected Cache Nodes transparently and dynamically cache Microsoft-published content that downstream Windows devices need to download. This solution allows Content Requests in Delivery Optimization to be served by locally deployed Connected Cache nodes instead of in the cloud. This enables fast, bandwidth-efficient delivery across connected devices. Microsoft has worked closely with numerous businesses and educational institutions to gather information about their bandwidth management needs. We’ve leveraged the great feedback we’ve received to develop Connected Cache into a solution that supports the scenarios that matter most to you.

Move from on-premises to hybrid or full cloud management scenarios

Enterprises and educational institutions have been using solutions like Configuration Manager for device management and content distribution. Many of these organizations include:

• Manage all or part of your device tenants using Intune or other mobile device management (MDM).
• Responsible for decommissioning Configuration Manager distribution points.
• You still face the challenge of managing content delivery bandwidth.

To support on-premises, hybrid, or fully cloud-managed scenarios, Connected Cache can be deployed directly on hardware or virtual machines (VMs) running Windows Server 2022 with enterprise-ready Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2. there is. , a lightweight first-party solution, or specific Linux distributions (Ubuntu 22.04 and RHEL 8 and 9).

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Many businesses and educational institutions operate globally from remote locations such as:

• Hundreds of Windows workstations exist.
• There is no dedicated server hardware or administrators on site.
• Internet bandwidth may be limited or Internet connection may be intermittent.
• Having bandwidth for office operations may be more important than downloading Microsoft content.

To support branch office scenarios, Connected Cache can be deployed directly to Windows 11 workstations using WSL 2.

Corporate or educational site

A traditional business or educational site may occupy one or more buildings and have multiple locations, such as:

• There are hundreds of thousands of Windows workstations, Windows servers, or virtual machines.
• It is important to reuse existing hardware (unused Configuration Manager distribution points, file servers, cloud print servers). Alternatively, dedicated server hardware can be used on-site.
• Internet bandwidth may vary from high to limited (T1) and/or Internet connectivity may be intermittent.
• Freeing up bandwidth for office or education work is a top priority, especially during peak hours.
• High-performance downloads are required to support bulk updates, upgrades, or Autopilot provisioning operations.

To support enterprise or education site scenarios, Connected Cache can be deployed directly on hardware or VMs running Windows Server 2022. Deployment can be done using WSL 2 or certain Linux distributions (Ubuntu 22.04 and RHEL 8 and 9).

Bulk management and deployment

Connected Cache Azure resources are typically managed using the Microsoft Azure portal web interface, but can also be managed using the command line interface (CLI). Connected Cache Nodes can be deployed remotely via PowerShell or Linux shell scripts that require no direct user input, allowing you to deploy Cache Nodes without being on-site.

Create a linked cache in the Azure portal.

PowerShell snippet demonstrating Connected Cache CLI usage.

PowerShell script that demonstrates how to bulk create cache nodes using the CLI.

Telemetry by content type

Organizations want to have insight into the health of their cache nodes and the content delivered to their devices. The Connected Cache Azure portal displays real-time and historical views of outbound traffic (Mbps) and volume by content type. These insights help ensure that the cache is distributed correctly and that devices successfully retrieve content from the cache. More information on cache efficiency (expressed as a percentage of content served from the associated cache), site-specific data, country-specific data, and more can be found here: Windows Update for Business report.

Connected Cache Management in the Azure portal shows Office, Windows Update, and Intune downloads.

Deploy Microsoft Connected Cache for Business and Education

Starting October 30, 2024, Windows Enterprise (E3, E5, and F3) and Windows Education (A3 and A5) users can use the Azure Marketplace to create “Microsoft Connected Cache for Enterprise and Education” Azure resources for use. Manages linked cache deployment. Once a Connected Cache Azure resource is created, users can create as many cache nodes as needed to support their network topology or content distribution. Please see: Microsoft Connected Cache for Enterprise and Education documentation overview page For more information

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