Offline Patching made easy

How do you patch machines (OS updates only) that are off the network without having to download many individual updates.  Microsoft has a solution for you to use as a stand-alone or use and modify for your purposes.

Security updates are available on ISO-9660 DVD5 image files from the Microsoft Download Center

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913086

One month might be as small as 200MB or as large as 3GB.  This is because it contains all the languages the Microsoft has to offier.

It is a fully comprehensive download but it beats downloaing every individual update. 

Distribution Model in ConfiMgr 2012

In the old days days of SMS/SCCM it was difficult to determine where to push a package if you had a large enviroment.  You had to determine who was in the given area and where/when to push packages to the unprotected and the protected DPs.

What is nice about the Distribution Point Groups is that now you can deploy to Distribution points and if you add a DP to the group it will recive all the packages destined for the group.  This wasn't the case in 2007 where it was simply a list and you have to manually select the packages. 

Now you can also create a Collection and deploy a content to a Collection as well.  When you distribute content, you can target a collection and the distribution points that are members of all distribution point groups with an association to the collection to receive the content.

DP groups: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh427335.aspx
  

Why can't I keep my multiple primary's in 2012?

To understand why you need to learn more about the Hierarchy simplification. 
When it was necessary to change the client settings for an area or inventory settings you had to change the SMS_DEF.mof at the primary.

Now with 2012 you can create client settings and special Inventory settings.  Then you assign it to a collection.  Depending on which collection it is in, the machine will recieve a differnet policy or Inventory settings.  To control which one it will recieve you can change the priortiy level of each custom policy settings.