You must have a good understanding of the objectives and need to set your goals, that is, the most important thing before you start designing a Configuration Manager hierarchy. A hierarchy can consist of a single standalone primary site, a single primary site with child secondary sites, or multiple primary sites connected by a Central Administration Site (CAS). A primary site cannot be joined as the child of a primary site. Configuration Manager allows you to change your hierarchy by connecting a standalone primary site to a CAS or to add secondary sites as child nodes to a primary site.

Sites within a hierarchy will share replicated data, security policies, and different types of objects, such as software libraries, boundaries, and boundary groups. The top-level site in the hierarchy can be a single primary site or a central administration site. Some site server roles can provide services to the whole hierarchy, and some can provide services within a specific site. A...