Using Windows Update Delivery Optimization on local networks

You can use Windows Update Delivery Optimization (WUDO) in Windows 10 to more efficiently distribute Windows updates and Configuration Manager packages across a corporate local network.

intranet cables network patch panel server

Thanks to the use of Delivery Optimization, you can significantly reduce web traffic and external load when updating your operating systems.

In this article, we'll see how to set up Delivery Optimization in Windows 10 and 11 to optimize the delivery of Windows Update and WSUS on a corporate LAN.

This technique makes sense when you are in a company with 10 computers and more and you definitely don't want to waste your time on screens waiting for each update to download.

The Delivery Optimization service is similar to torrents and is based on Peer to Peer (P2P) principles. Before downloading a Windows update file or an application from the Windows Store, the computer tries to find the file on nearby computers on the local network.

intranet file sharing 1

If this is found, the computer downloads the file from a neighboring computer without loading it WAN. For coordination of the activity, the Microsoft Delivery Optimization cloud service is used. It means that your computers must be able to access the internet (directly or through a proxy).

In modern versions of Windows 11/10, Delivery Optimization supports Windows updates and MS Store apps, as well as Microsoft Office updates (common, C2R or MSIX) and SCCM packages.

How to enable Delivery Optimization in Windows 10 or 11?

By default, delivery optimization is enabled in all versions of Windows 10 (version 1511 and later) and Windows 11. By default, only computers on the current local area network (LAN) are allowed to download files.

Delivery optimization settings are available for Windows 10 on Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery optimization.

windows update delivery optimization
As you can see, only two options are available under “Allow download from other computers”:

  • Computers on the local network
  • Computers on the local network and computers on the internet

The difference between them is obvious I think. The second option does the same as the first with the addition that in addition to the local network it allows you to download files from other devices on the Internet.

The delivery optimization service (DoSvc) is used for client-side Delivery Optimization functions. By default, the service is enabled and set to start automatically.

You can also check this from a PowerShell window with the command:
Get-Service dosvc|Select-Object -Property Name,,StartType

powershell dosvc delivery optimization

Configure Delivery Optimization via GPO

The Advanced Delivery Optimization settings are located in the Group Policy Editor (GPO). We consider that we are addressing power users who know how to open the Group Policy Editor.

Otherwise, type the command “gpedit.msc” in the “Run” window. From there navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Delivery Optimization.

local group policy editor delivery optimization
To enforce Delivery Optimization on Windows clients, the “Download Mode” policy is used. The most commonly used values ​​are:

  • 1 = HTTP combined with peering on the same NAT – Recommended if all your computers are on the same LAN.
  • 2 = HTTP combined with peering in a private pool — used in large networks consisting of multiple segments connected by WAN links. AD domains and sites can be used as network boundaries.

local group policy editor delivery optimization 2

You can use the Group ID (GroupID) policy option to create update delivery groups on your network. For example, using GPO you can assign a unique GUID to computers in each OU. Computers with the same GUID will only receive updates from computers with that GUID (ie, on the same LAN but without loading the channels between sites). To generate a unique GUID, use the PowerShell command:
[guid]::NewGuid()

Alternatively, you can link the group using “Select the source of group IDs” from the Local Group Policy Editor.

local group policy editor delivery optimization 3

A Windows device acts as a Delivery Optimization network peer if it has at least 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of free disk space. You can change these settings via GPO in:

  • Minimum disk size allowed to use Peer Cache (in GB).
  • Minimum required RAM capacity (total) to enable Peer Cache usage (in GB)

Note: the Translation of peers in a P2P network with the word "peers" is not ours but Microsoft's. We apologize for that!.

By default, Delivery Optimization does not work on devices connected to your network via VPN. To allow VPN clients to receive updates using Delivery Optimization, enable the “Enable peer cache when device connects via VPN” option.

Using Delivery Optimization to optimize WSUS traffic

Delivery Optimization is automatically supported for server updates WSUS (Windows Server Update Services). Create a regular GPO to receive updates from WSUS and assign it to your clients.

After WSUS scans for updates, a client tries to find an update file in the cache of the client computers on your LAN. To do this, it accesses the WUDO cloud service (via HTTP/HTTPS) and asks if a file with a specific hash exists on computers on the same LAN.

If you need to use a proxy to access the Internet, you can configure the proxy settings in Windows using GPO.

So if the file is found, the client contacts the delivery optimizer service on the neighboring computer (Port 7680) and starts downloading the file using BITS.

If Windows Defender Firewall is enabled on your computers, you need to allow incoming connections with the GPO on TCP port 7680. You can check if the port is available on the network computers using the Test-NetConnection cmdlet :
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName 192.168.150.12 -Port 7680

Optimize delivery statistics on Windows

You can get statistics about file and update downloads through Delivery Optimization with Activity Monitoring (Settings > Update & security > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization > Activity Monitoring). Here you can see how much traffic your computer received from different delivery optimization sources and who it shared files with.

windows update delivery optimization 2

To view Delivery Optimization statistics, you can also use PowerShell.

With this command you will get general statistics of delivery optimization (how many files were downloaded or uploaded, their size, efficiency of peers):
Get-DeliveryOptimizationPerfSnap

Display information about current Delivery Optimization tasks:
Get-DeliveryOptimizationStatus | ft

Using the following command, you can get information about connected peers:
Get-DeliveryOptimizationStatus –PeerInfo

You can see the delivery optimization statistics on your device for the last month:
Get-DeliveryOptimizationPerfSnapThisMonth

Delivery optimization is most effective in companies with multiple machines connected to the central WSUS/SCCM infrastructure using WAN links.

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Windows, Update, Delivery, Optimization, optimization, delivery

Written by Dimitris

Dimitris hates on Mondays .....

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