About Service Packs

  • Article

In contrast to a software update, a service pack is an interim product release that is planned and tested over a longer period of time, and consists of a rollup of all software updates (security patches, critical updates, updates, and update rollups or both) that have been released since the last service pack or product release. A service pack can also contain a limited number of customer-requested design changes or features.

Although the SMS 2003 software update management feature does not directly allow you to deploy service packs to your SMS client computers by using the Distribute Software Updates Wizard, you can use SMS software distribution to deploy service packs just as you would deploy any other software. Deploying the latest service pack to SMS client computers is an important part of an effective software update management program, because it:

  • Reduces the number of software updates that you must track and manage.

  • Reduces the number of updates that your clients must install.

  • Reduces the network overhead of the software update management components.

  • Decreases the size of software update packages.

  • Increases the overall software update compliance in your enterprise.

Service packs are particularly important for software update management because they apply a new baseline for the installed components against which future software updates are applied.

It is imperative that you update the service packs for the systems in your enterprise to defend against any potential security problem. However, in the interim between service packs, the most important thing you can do to maintain a secure system is to make sure that the computers in your enterprise are running the most current security updates.

For More Information

Did you find this information useful? Please send your suggestions and comments about the documentation to smsdocs@microsoft.com.