The Patching Cycle

There are (or there should be) four basic phases in the ongoing cycle of maintaining a well-patched, up-to-date network:

  • Assess

  • Identify

  • Evaluate and plan

  • Deploy

Each of these phases is essential to the successful management of patches on your network. And in a large, well-run network, each of these phases is quite formal and carefully delineated.

Given the relative simplicity of SBS networks, and the more realistic IT budgets and resources we have, you’re going to have to combine and simplify the overall process a bit, and you’ll probably even bypass phases on occasion. However, it’s good to have an understanding of the phases and to think through the steps involved in each one, even if you’re combining them. In the following sections, ...

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