Software Update Services, Part 2

In "Software Update Services, Part 1" (November 2002, http://www.secadministrator.com, InstantDoc ID 26767), I introduced you to the basic components of Microsoft Software Update Services (SUS) and showed you how to set up SUS to automatically deploy crucial updates to computers on your network. In this article, I examine scalability and stability concerns—how to test updates before you deploy them in your production environment, handle large numbers of Automatic Updates (AU) clients and limited bandwidth, deploy different AU lists to multiple computers, and track update installation activity.

Rolling Out SUS to Your Production Environment
Most people agree that before you install a new update on computers, you should first test it in your production environment. Typically, you should install a new fix with a limited rollout on some noncrucial computers and observe those computers for a week or so. At the same time, you should read the Windows & .NET Magazine UPDATE newsletters (http://www.winnetmag.com/email) to learn about problems early adopters have encountered. You can then roll out the update to your larger production environment. . . .