3.3 How to Identify and Select Networking Capabilities
3.3.11 Server placement in WANs

The placement of servers as it relates to who will be accessing them affects traffic patterns in the WAN. If you place an enterprise server in the access layer of Site 1, as shown in Figure all traffic destined for that is forced to go across links between Routers 1 and 2. This consumes major quantities of bandwidth from Site 1.

If you place the enterprise server at a higher layer in the hierarchy, as shown in Figure , the traffic on the link between Routers 1 and 2 is reduced and is available for users at Site 1 to access other services. In Figure , a workgroup server is placed at the access layer of the site where the largest concentration of users is located, and traffic crossing the WAN link to access this server is limited. Thus, more bandwidth is available to access resources outside the site.