RE: [ActiveDir] distributing large service pack files

[Molkentin, Steve]

Title: distributing large service pack files

Mark,

 

WSUS (and SMS for that matter) uses the "Background Intelligent Transfer Service" (that's what it's called) to do just this on large files, in that it is smart enough to recognise downtime on your network to send files, and manages the resumption of large files if it had to stop transferring them. It is pretty seamless in my experience - all our links are less than T1 (except for the internet pipe into our head office), and we manage to push a lot of stuff around using WSUS quite well with no interruption to business.

 

It's not hard to setup an older PC as a local WSUS cache - it needs little in the way of processor and RAM (really), and will get over any cost issue and give you the ability to distribute, etc. Additionally, it takes away all the responsibility of the staff member to install/connect/download the service pack (and don't start me on the fact that they shouldn't have admin rights to install it in the first place).

 

My $0.02 inc GST...

 

themolk.

 

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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Creamer, Mark
Sent: Friday, 3 February 2006 6:18 AM
To: ActiveDir@mail.activedir.org
Subject: [ActiveDir] distributing large service pack files

The structure of our WAN is such that we have lots of small offices all over the country, each with a few to a hundred or so PCs, connected by not-so-fast links. The biggest locations have T1s, but many don’t. Keeping these things patched is a nightmare. We do not have distributed servers, and really nothing except the PCs themselves to cache something for local delivery. Which brings me to my question…is it even conceivable that something like an internal-only BitTorrent could be leveraged to distribute something as large as a service pack? I think it might be more efficient than a 3^rd party patch management solution or WSUS, which I can’t use because of not having distributed file caches. If this is nutty, dish out the dirt, but I’ll want to understand why it’s nutty too J

Thanks

Mark Creamer

Systems Engineer

Cintas Corporation | 6800 Cintas Boulevard | Mason, OH  45040

Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | http://www.cintas.com

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