Deployment Strategy
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
Hotpatching technology was designed to reduce system downtime and to provide a method for deploying critical updates without a system reboot. Because hotpatches cannot be applied to all update packages, it is common for update cycles to contain updates with and without hotpatches. Figure 2 outlines the recommended hotpatching deployment strategy.