As previously discussed the Data Collector stores and distributes information (such as published applications, connected users,licensing etc) on zones within a farm. Also each server has a data collector service but only one server is elected the Data Collector (which minimises wan traffic and stops issues from occurring if all the servers data collectors are chatting away to each other.

The data collection election is entirely automatic and normally the first server installed into a farms zone will be given the MOST PREFERRED setting however you can change this setting if you wish.

In order to change the preference you will need to open the presentation server console and right click and choose properties on the farm name at the top of the tree menu.

The next window you see will by default tell you that the feature is now administered in the access management console. However ignore this and click on the Zones option and expand the zone you would like to edit.

You will see the list of servers in the zone and one will have a blue tick next to it, this by default is the MOST PREFERRED. For the servers you would like to change preferences on you will need to click on each one individually and click the set election preference button to set the preference you desire.

One thing to note is that only one server must have the MOST PREFERRED option set all others are set by default to DEFAULT PREFERENCE.