Objective 2.1: Plan the Deployment of Service Packs and Hotfixes

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When it comes to managing the security for the systems on a network, many administrators are tempted to install service packs and hotfixes the moment that they are released. Although such a strategy can keep you on the cutting edge of security, following the strategy blindly will eventually lead to cutting yourself. Although Microsoft has excellent processes in place for testing its service packs and hotfixes, from time to time an update is withdrawn because it has unintended consequences that severely impact upon some customer’s systems. It is also possible that you may work in an environment that has a unique mix of applications. Microsoft cannot test for all eventualities and it is possible that a released hotfix or service pack may disable an important customized business application that your organization is dependent on. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and a strategy of thoroughly testing hotfixes and service packs before you roll them out to your organization can save you hours, perhaps days, of mopping up operations if something goes wrong. It is also worth remembering that even though a hotfix may be able to be installed on a system, this does not mean that the hotfix should be installed on a system. Careful judgments should be made as to whether or not the hotfix is applicable and relevant for the environment that it might be deployed in. Finally, it is important to know how to get back from a position once you have arrived there. Even with thorough testing something can be missed, and having an effective rollback strategy before a service pack or hotfix is rolled out is much better than attempting to develop such a strategy once a hotfix is installed on production systems and is causing unforeseen problems.



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MCSA(s)MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit Exam 70-299 (c) Implementing and Administering Security in a M[.  .. ]twork
MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-299): Implementing and Administering Security in a MicrosoftВ® Windows Server(TM) 2003 Network (Pro-Certification)
ISBN: 073562061X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 217

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