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Service Pack vs
"Patch"
contributed by
the Technical Department at ITsynergy
 Microsoft has been busy the last several
months, and among other things has released two new major
service packs that will affect most of our
customers.
We thought that we
first might provide some benefit by discussing the difference
between a service pack and a patch. Patches are released
regularly by Microsoft and fix a specific problem with a piece
of their software. Microsoft categorizes their patches with
the most important being categorized as critical. Microsoft
has one of the best records in the industry in this area,
including a regular schedule of patch releases (second Tuesday
of every month), outstanding communication to interested
parties about the patching process (they email us to warn us
of everything that is coming out before it hits) and free
support for problems created by patches.
A service pack, by
contrast, is a collection of patches (regardless of category)
all bundled together into a single installation. The key
difference between a service pack and a patch, however, is
that a service pack is MUCH more heavily regression tested
than a patch. That means that not only does Microsoft test to
make sure that the things the patches are supposed to fix are
fixed, but they also test everything else – even the things
the patches have nothing to do with.
The net result of
all of this is that we have to evaluate each patch on an
individual basis to determine what our customers exposure will
be without installing the patch, what category the patch is in
(we generally only install critical patches between service
packs), what impact the installation might have and whether or
not to install the patch. With a service pack, however, we can
take much greater comfort in all of the additional testing
that has taken place, and therefore we will install the
service pack on every customer’s computers after a round of
initial testing just to be doubly safe.
The major service
packs released recently are Service Pack 1 for Microsoft
Windows Vista, and Service Pack 2 for Microsoft Windows Server
2003. We have installed and tested both, and recommend you
install both. If you have an extra hour or two, and are
feeling brave, you can take a shot at Vista Service Pack 1 on
your own (or of course we’re happy to help). As far as Service
Pack 2 for Windows Server 2003, more caution is required,
especially on servers running Small Business Server. That one
is best left to the professionals.
We have started
contacting all customers to first discuss Service Pack 2
installation, and then schedule a time to get you up to date.
If you feel the circumstances in your environment require
action before we have a chance to contact you, fell free to
reach out – we are happy to
help! | 