eMazzanti Technologies

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!