Server Consolidation Technology and Consulting

Windows Server Update Services

Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) enables information technology administrators to deploy and monitor the latest Microsoft patches and security updates to Microsoft Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP operating systems. By using Windows Server Update Services, IT personnel can fully and easily manage the distribution of updates that are released through Microsoft Update to computers in servers and workstations in an organization.

Windows Server Update Services is a patch and update component of Windows Server and offers an effective and quick way to help keep systems up to date. Windows Server Update Services provides a management infrastructure consisting of:

• Microsoft Update: The Microsoft Web site that Windows Server Update Services components connect to for updates to Microsoft products.
• Windows Server Update Services server: The server component that is installed on a computer running a Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 4 (SP4) or Windows Server 2003 operating system inside the corporate firewall. Windows Server Update Services server provides the features that administrators need to manage and distribute updates through a Web-based tool, which can be accessed from Internet Explorer on any Windows computer in the corporate network. In addition, a Windows Server Update Services server can be the update source for other Windows Server Update Services servers.
• Automatic Updates: The client computer component built into Windows 2000 with SP3, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems. Automatic Updates enables both server and client computers to receive updates from Microsoft Update or from a server running Windows Server Update Services.

WSUS gives server managers the ability to target updates to specific computers and computer groups and verify automatically that updates are suitable for each computer before installation. WSUS allows IT administrators to control patching and provides IT staff the ability to evaluate and test patches for application compatibility before deployment organization wide. WSUS enables you to create custom computer groups, which you can use to test updates. By installing an update in a test environment before deploying it to your production environment, you can analyze and assess its impact before it has the opportunity to harm your production systems. This can prevent unplanned downtime and lost productivity.

WSUS provides a concise tool and management console that allows IT professionals to stay on top of the critical process of keeping servers and workstations up to date with important security patches. The powerful patch deployment automation and monitoring features of WSUS give overworked IT staff the chance to focus on addressing the servers and workstations that have problems with patch deployment, rather than being swamped by the tedious grunt work of routine patch installation.

WSUS is a free software application that requires serious effort only for the initial, one-time setup. Afterwards, ongoing patch management effort is greatly reduced.

How DCI Can Help You with Windows Server Update Services
DCI is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and offers expertise in all aspects of server management in a Windows environment. DCI can help you with technical details of the initial setup of WSUS such as designing the WSUS deployment, setting up clients computers, configuring the Group Policy settings, and making sure your WSUS Group Policy object (GPO) is linked to an Active Directory container appropriate for your network environment.

To get immediate help with Windows Server Update Services,call (866)666-7731 or email information@dcicorporation.com.