Managing patches for your laptop is a tedious but harmless task. You receive notifications about the availability of updates and can apply them with a reboot of the device. For company-owned devices, IT must enforce these updates by limiting the number of times an end user can delay them.
At the other end of the spectrum is server management and patching. From the operating system to applications, the process of patching servers is much less defined and certainly not as simple. It is never that simple to install updates and perform a reboot.
Why is server patching important?
Patching servers quickly and accurately is critical to security. Servers form the backbone of any network infrastructure and, as such, have more dependencies than laptops. Patches for servers must be tested before deployment, maintenance windows must be established, and installation requirements for each patch must be understood.
To make matters worse, most of us use more than one server operating system, employing both Windows and several Linux distros in our environments. In addition to on-premise servers, private and public cloud servers are increasingly common.
This multivariate combination of factors results in a complex patching process that many IT departments cannot manage. The variety of operating system and software patches can make it difficult for system administrators to determine which patches should be applied to which servers.
Best practices for managing server patches
To manage the patching needs of multiple servers and operating systems, companies should follow the recommended best practices.
Establish a patch management program.
Each server operating system releases patches on a schedule . Microsoft is famous for releasing updates on the second Tuesday of each month, Linux and applications running on servers release updates at different times.
It is recommended that you check for new server patches at least once a week and subscribe to alerts (e.g., Microsoft Security Alerts) for critical patches that are released between scheduled patch release times.
Prioritize server patches based on severity.
Some patches need to be applied immediately to prevent malicious actors from accessing the network, while others are less likely to be exploited or may only affect certain system configurations.
To know which patches are needed for each system and which are the most severe, it is necessary to have complete visibility into the patch status of all servers.
Test server patches before deployment.
Server patches are notorious for interfering or conflicting with other systems and, in the worst cases, can even knock out critical parts of the infrastructure.
Patches often include system requirements that must be met before installation, and if not tested properly, dependent systems or applications can go down after a server upgrade.
Use one central software for patching servers.
Keeping track of all updates for multiple operating systems and associated third-party applications is a daunting task, and critical patches can be missed if companies use different tools for each system. What is needed is a single source of truth.
By centralizing patch management in a single solution that works across multiple operating systems and manages both on-premise and cloud servers, companies can be sure that no new patches are lost.
Using an automated patch management solution reduces the time it takes to apply patches and eliminates the risk of critical patches being overlooked. Modern cloud-native patch automation solutions are easy to set up, cost-effective, and do not require ongoing maintenance.