Patch management software has become a growing choice of corporations and businesses over the last few years. The Windows operating system and the frequent fixes got the consumer used to the idea of updating, and to limited automated software patch programs. The new patch management solutions bring this to businesses in a way that meets their security needs.
Most home users will enable automatic updates for the Windows operating system and this is a specific and limited type of patch management software. There are many more programs on almost every computer which also require patching. For the larger company or business, this can be a time and labor intensive job keeping up with patches and securing the system.
Software for managing patches is available for the business, which has two computers, or for the corporation with a large network and multiple machines. In both cases security and protecting company assets is a prime concern. The latest security patches are essential, and software to manage them can ease the task while still providing the latest security fixes and updates on each machine.
The software will normally contain a console where administrator preferences can be set. That means the administrator can determine which programs should be updated and scanned and those which can be ignored. There are usually options to choose a patch download site in the console area as well.
A company with multiple machines may well have different purposes for each one and different programs installed as well. In that case the management software will scan each machine separately and apply the patches or fixes. Software to manage patches will usually intelligently apply only those patches necessary for the programs present on the machine.
One very common type of management program for patches is that of the agent based software. This solution employs an agent, or small program on each machine. The agent scans the machine and makes the necessary changes. When the changes and scan are complete the program reports the results to a central administrative machine.
The other type of common program is that which is in one central location with a single machine managing all aspects of the updates. It will scan each machine on the network, determine the needs of the machine, retrieve the fixes and apply them. While this solution is located in a single machine and configurable it usually requires much more supervision than the agent based solution.
Whichever method is chosen the patch management software alternatives tend to save time and help improve security. This is particularly true when patching a large network with many machines. Before a decision is made in favor of agent or agentless software the business should assess the available work force, security needs and bandwidth of the company. While the agent based solution is more bandwidth intensive, it requires less supervision. The agentless method requires less bandwidth but is ultimately more controllable.
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