RE: MS Software Update Service

I have been using the SMS feature pack since it was released and it seems to address most of the weaknesses of SUS that others have mentioned. We are still deploying it but we have had good results so far. For those with SMS it is an obvious choice (my opinion), I wouldn't deploy SMS just for SUS since the cost would probably be high.

1. Push install - We can install to any number or combination of clients using Collections. We use Wake on Lan so that we can perform updates at night or on the weekends.
2. Reporting - The built in SMS Web reporting could be better but out of the box it is useful and with SQL/WQL knowledge it can be customized.
3. Multiple products - It also does Office XP for sure and I think Office 2000 but with SMS we can deploy updates to virtually any software.

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-----Original Message-----
From: Starks, Brad [mailto:BStarks@co.marin.ca.us] Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 7:43 PM To: 'focus-ms@securityfocus.com'
Subject: MS Software Update Service

Hi everyone,

Microsoft's Software Update Service has been out for awhile (they've recently released a service pack for it, too) and I was curious as to what
folks think about it. If you're using this technology, are you happy with
it? How well does it suit your needs? Is it comparable to other solutions
like Update Expert, Hfnetchk Pro, Net Octopus, etc.?

In addition, has anyone used the Feature Pack for SMS that contains the SUS
(as well as all kinds of additional) components? How does that compare to
the standard SUS?

Thanks in advance,

Brad Starks
IST Security Team
County of Marin Received on Mon Feb 24 16:17:49 2003