Large corporations as well as small businesses have begun to turn to automated patch management software for security and updates. The average user has become used to the security updates and fixes and businesses have much more to secure against. The frequent patches and additions to the Windows operating system has accustomed the consumer to the need for fixes on a regular basis.
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.
However the software patch management programs have taken much of the burden off the workforce and allow these operations to be configured and executed automatically. Whether a company has two machines or an entire network of machines spanning the nation, the need is the same, to keep up to date. While formerly one or more employees might be dedicated strictly to updating and securing all the machines in a location, new software programs have freed them for more profitable duties.
This type of software will utilize a console usually on a single machine of a network. That console can control what fixes or patches are scanned for and how the patches are deployed throughout the system. Included in these software consoles are options also specify which from which sites a patch should be downloaded. Some management software companies maintain their own database of patches and fixes.
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.
There are generally two types of management software for patches. The first type is an agent based management solution. Management programs that use the agent have a program installed on each machine, which performs a scan of the machine. This agent then downloads and installs necessary fixes and then sends a message to the central machine concerning what programs are installed and updated.
Agentless management programs on the other hand are centralized. The main machine performs all the scans upon the network and initiates the actions to patch. While agentless software is certainly more centrally configurable and permits closer monitoring of network machines than an agent based option. The cost for these programs will be higher than that of the agent based solutions. They also will require more supervision than those with agents.
These alternatives have cut the cost of maintaining some security aspects of a large network. It has become popular even among home users. However, a business should consider their available bandwidth, work force, and corporate needs before deciding upon particular management program, since the differences are so striking.
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