AWH Weblog » Windows updates that won’t crash your network

Windows updates that won’t crash your network

team bay Everyone running a computer nowadays is probably used to running a software update mechanism of some sort. Windows users, Mac users, even Linux users are consistently bombarded with new features, bug fixes and software updates. This is all well and good except when the updates can cause network bandwidth utilization issues, or even system crashes. Take for example the two day outage Skype users suffered last month. It was reportedly caused by company personnel doing windows updates, which then required reboots, which then required users to re-connect to the network, and then crash! Obviously I would have concerns about a network being brought down by a simple update, but the fact that they say this is how it happened led me to our topic today. For all of you running Microsoft Windows networks I am happy to introduce you to a simple way to avoid this issue: Windows Server Update Service or WSUS. (Sorry Mac and Linux users).

What is WSUS?

So, what is WSUS you may ask.. Well simply put, it is a software application that allows companies granular control over the downloading, distribution and installation of Microsoft Windows patches. Or as far as Skype is concerned, it is the service that could have prevented their system from crashing.

Let me explain a little bit. The WSUS service plays two critical roles in the Windows updating process. First it becomes the central repository for all of those windows patches that need downloading almost every day. WSUS server initiates contact with Microsoft and downloads patches so your internal computers no longer need to strangle your precious Internet connection. This single fact in a company of 100 windows computers will provide a 100x bandwidth usage reduction. Second, and just as important for our friends at Skype, WSUS allows the integration of policy based patch deployment. Let’s take a look at that a little closer. WSUS allows administrators to deploy updates and patches based on corporate security and business rules. For example, again for our friends at Skype, a good deployment rule would be to create sub sections of computer users and deploy the patches in stages as opposed to all at once. Another possible rule, only deploy patches during low usage times, either of which could have minimized the risk occurred by updating, and potentially eliminating unnecessary outages.

Technical Preparedness

Obviously there are some technical considerations when evaluating and deploying a solution like this, and our own Jesse Woodruff has taken a deeper look into the technical world of WSUS in his post here.

Ultimately there are a number of reasons networks and systems can crash without any help from us, hopefully this tool gives you the ability to take one item off that list.

Good Luck!