BITS Group Policy Settings

You can use Group Policy settings from the Bits.admx administrative template to configure several aspects of BITS and control how much bandwidth BITS uses. These policies are located in the Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Background Intelligent Transfer Service node of the Group Policy Object Editor.

• Do Not Allow The Computer To Act As A BITS Peercaching Client When this setting and the Allow BITS Peercaching setting are both enabled, Windows 7 client computers will not attempt to download files from peers. Instead, they will download files from the origin source directly. By default, a Windows 7 computer will act as a Peercaching client and thus will first attempt to download peer-enabled BITS jobs from peer computers before reverting to the origin server. This setting requires Windows Vista or Windows 7.
• Do Not Allow The Computer To Act As A BITS Peercaching Server When this setting and the Allow BITS Peercaching setting are both enabled, Windows 7 client computers will not attempt to share files with peers. However, they might still download files from other Windows 7 computers that are configured to act as Peercaching servers. By default, a Windows 7 computer will act as a Peercaching server. This setting requires Windows Vista or Windows 7.
• Allow BITS Peercaching By default, Windows 7 computers have Peercaching disabled, causing Windows 7 to always transfer files directly from the origin server. If you enable this setting, Windows 7 will also attempt to transfer files from other Windows 7 peers, potentially reducing bandwidth utilization on your Internet connection. This setting requires Windows Vista or Windows 7.
• Timeout For Inactive BITS Jobs The number of days without successful download action or job property changes, after which BITS will remove a pending job. After a job is considered abandoned, BITS deletes all downloaded files. This setting typically will not affect the Windows Update client, but it might affect other applications that use BITS. This setting is available for Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 with BITS 1.5 in addition to Windows Vista and Windows 7.
• Limit The Maximum Network Bandwidth For BITS Background Transfers Enables you to limit the bandwidth that BITS uses. You can configure two different bandwidth limits for different times of the day. For example, you might limit the bandwidth to 10 kilobits per second (Kbps) per client computer during the day to minimize impact on the network during the busiest time but allow up to 20 Kbps per client computer after normal working hours. If you specify a value that is less than 2 Kbps, BITS will still use up to 2 Kbps. To prevent transfers from occurring, specify 0 Kbps. Because BITS is designed to make use of idle bandwidth, you do not usually need to define this setting. Instead, consult with your network engineering group to monitor BITS bandwidth usage and adjust this setting only if bandwidth utilization becomes a problem. Setting bandwidth restrictions too low can interfere with the ability of Windows Update to retrieve updates. This setting is available for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 with BITS 2.0 in addition to Windows Vista and Windows 7.
• Limit The Maximum Network Bandwidth Used For Peercaching The maximum bandwidth used when transferring files to peers across the LAN. By default, BITS uses 8 megabits per second (Mbps) as the maximum bandwidth. If you have a LAN that is 10 Mbps or slower, you can decrease this setting to reduce the likelihood of BITS peer transfers affecting other network applications. This setting does not affect WAN or Internet bandwidth. This setting requires Windows Vista or Windows 7.
• Limit The BITS Peercache Size The minimum and maximum disk space to be used to cache BITS content. This setting requires Windows Vista or Windows 7.
• Limit The Age Of Items In The BITS Peercache The maximum number of days before BITS removes cached content. This setting requires Windows Vista or Windows 7.
• Limit The Maximum BITS Job Download Time The number of seconds an active BITS download can run. By default, this setting is 5,400 seconds, or 90 minutes. This setting requires Windows Vista or Windows 7.
• Limit The Maximum Number Of Files Allowed In A BITS Job The maximum number of files that can be added to a BITS job. Typically, you do not need to define this setting. This setting requires Windows Vista or Windows 7.
• Limit The Maximum Number Of BITS Jobs For This Computer The maximum number of BITS jobs allowed for all users except services and administrators. This setting requires Windows Vista or Windows 7.
• Limit The Maximum Number Of BITS Jobs For Each User The maximum number of BITS jobs allowed for each user except services and administrators. This setting requires Windows Vista or Windows 7.
• Limit The Maximum Number Of Ranges That Can Be Added To The File In A BITS Job The maximum number of ranges that can be added to a file. Ranges allow a portion of a file to be downloaded. This setting requires Windows Vista or Windows 7.
• Set Up A Maintenance Schedule To Limit The Maximum Network Bandwidth Used For BITS Background Transfers Restrict the bandwidth BITS uses at specific times of specific dates. This setting requires Windows 7.
• Set Up A Work Schedule To Limit The Maximum Network Bandwidth Used For BITS Background Transfers Restrict the bandwidth BITS uses at specific times of specific dates. This setting requires Windows 7.