2012 R2: Use of Single Instance Store (SCCMContentLib) only

Question

Hi all,
We have a System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager already running with almost every role (standalone, besides from wsus on another server as Software Update Point).
The SC2012R2 server has several HDDs C:,D:,E:,S: with SCCMContentLib
directories on C: & D: and a Sources shared resource in drive S: which is accessed through UNC
\\SC2012R2\Sources\
The fact is that we think that this configuration is wasting space since it seems that both
SCCMContentLib and the Sources shared directory serve the same contents but in diferent ways, thus doubling our disk usage.
As per
Howard Hoy post: By default, the content is single storage and browsing to a DP does not store all the files in a package id folder where you could find an install and execute it. You can enable the older method which will create a separate folder share.
This will require double the disk space!
So here is our question: Is there any way to get rid of the Sources
shared directory and serve contents to clients using SCCMContentLib only? In other words, besides of the Content Library at the Central Administration Site, are we forced to use the Sources in S: to deliver content or can we get rid of
it somehow?
It seems that Automatic Deployment Rules, at the end of the wizard force you to select a UNC to store the Deployment Package. Is this the correct set up and we simply have to deal with it and keep adding more storage to the server?
As per Microsoft documentation about the
Content Library: "The content library is located on each site server and on each distribution point and provides a single instance store for content files"
However, if we are forced to add extra hdd space for the Sources directory to be accessed via UNC, it seems a waste of space.
Thanks in advance for any clarification on this subject.
Regards.

Answer 1

"So here is our question: Is there any way to get rid of the Sources
shared directory and serve contents to clients using SCCMContentLib only?"
No. There is no way to do this. ConfigMgr is an enterprise content deployment system and this design is a result of efficiently supporting larger enterprises. It also doesn't make sense to directly use the source files that it does not directly control.
Yes, this does create some additional disk space overhead; however, disk space is cheap. You should be storing your source files on cheap disk and also note that there is no reason this has to be directly attached to your ConfigMgr site server. All source
content can be accessed using a UNC so putting the source files on a file server or alternate system that has cheap storage available to it is an easy "solution".
"It seems that Automatic Deployment Rules, at the end of the wizard force you to select a UNC to store the Deployment Package. Is this the correct set up and we simply have to deal with it and keep adding more storage to the server?"
Yes, all applications, drivers, OS image packages, OS install packages, and software update packages must have their content accessed using a UNC. Good practice also dictates that even your package files use a UNC for their source files. That doesn't mean
the UNC can't be local to the site server although see my comment above about using cheap disk for this. Here's a related blog post that you may want to review:
http://blog.configmgrftw.com/configmgr-folder-structure/
"it seems a waste of space."
Ultimately, yes, you end up with duplicate copies of all of your source files. But, to be blunt, use cheap disk for this and move on as you can't change this.
Jason | http://blog.configmgrftw.com | @jasonsandys