patching

What is the differnce between a Service Pack and Security Patches that come
out over time? What about Hot Fixes? Is Microsoft the only sources of
patches? Should I test the patch on a demo server before I place it in
production or should I just trust Microsoft?Hi
A SP is a fully end to end tested release that implements fixes and
enhancements to the base product. SP's are cumulative (then contain all
prior SP's fixes plus more).
A Security patch is a hotfix that addresses high priority fixes that if not
applied, could lead to compromised security.
A Hotfix is an update, issued to fix a specific problem that somebody had
encountered and Microsoft needs to fix as it could affect other users. A
Hotfix has limited support and does not have the massive amount of
regression testing as a Service Pack would as it is not possible in the
short time frames needed.
NEVER get a hotfix/SP/Security pack from any other source than Microsoft.
Microsoft never e-mails files either. There is always a link to their site
from where you can download it. You never know who has tampered with the
files if you don't get them yourself from MS.
With any release, always put it on test servers before production ones.
Functionality can change or behavior you were used to could be altered in a
way that your applications were not expecting.
www.microsoft.com/sql
www.microsoft.com/security
Regards
--
Mike Epprecht, Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Zurich, Switzerland
IM: mike@.epprecht.net
MVP Program: http://www.microsoft.com/mvp
Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/epprecht/
"Rich" <Rich@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FECD7708-9C36-4810-9EF8-D011ADB6B021@.microsoft.com...
> What is the differnce between a Service Pack and Security Patches that
come
> out over time? What about Hot Fixes? Is Microsoft the only sources of
> patches? Should I test the patch on a demo server before I place it in
> production or should I just trust Microsoft?|||Hello Mike,
thanks for the answer. I am getting flack for wanting to test Service Packs
before they go into production.
Rich
"Mike Epprecht (SQL MVP)" wrote:

> Hi
> A SP is a fully end to end tested release that implements fixes and
> enhancements to the base product. SP's are cumulative (then contain all
> prior SP's fixes plus more).
> A Security patch is a hotfix that addresses high priority fixes that if no
t
> applied, could lead to compromised security.
> A Hotfix is an update, issued to fix a specific problem that somebody had
> encountered and Microsoft needs to fix as it could affect other users. A
> Hotfix has limited support and does not have the massive amount of
> regression testing as a Service Pack would as it is not possible in the
> short time frames needed.
> NEVER get a hotfix/SP/Security pack from any other source than Microsoft.
> Microsoft never e-mails files either. There is always a link to their site
> from where you can download it. You never know who has tampered with the
> files if you don't get them yourself from MS.
> With any release, always put it on test servers before production ones.
> Functionality can change or behavior you were used to could be altered in
a
> way that your applications were not expecting.
> www.microsoft.com/sql
> www.microsoft.com/security
> Regards
> --
> Mike Epprecht, Microsoft SQL Server MVP
> Zurich, Switzerland
> IM: mike@.epprecht.net
> MVP Program: http://www.microsoft.com/mvp
> Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/epprecht/
> "Rich" <Rich@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:FECD7708-9C36-4810-9EF8-D011ADB6B021@.microsoft.com...
> come
>
>|||Hi
SP4 will break applications if they use XP functions that access the
registry. How much fun will you have if your app uses it and it dies because
of this?
If they don't accept that you need to test compatibility, then maybe you are
working for the wrong company.
Regards
--
Mike Epprecht, Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Zurich, Switzerland
IM: mike@.epprecht.net
MVP Program: http://www.microsoft.com/mvp
Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/epprecht/
"Rich" <Rich@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E9805C2D-3522-4194-BCB4-58307D1E8422@.microsoft.com...
> Hello Mike,
> thanks for the answer. I am getting flack for wanting to test Service
Packs[vbcol=seagreen]
> before they go into production.
> Rich
> "Mike Epprecht (SQL MVP)" wrote:
>
not[vbcol=seagreen]
had[vbcol=seagreen]
Microsoft.[vbcol=seagreen]
site[vbcol=seagreen]
in a[vbcol=seagreen]
of[vbcol=seagreen]
in[vbcol=seagreen]|||Always test service packs before putting them into production. Although
service packs go through more testing than hotfixes there are so many
different environments out there that unless you test it in your specific
environment you can't be sure you're not going to hit an issue. Certainly in
our environment we have come across some very weird bugs just because of how
we have our servers configured (weirdest one yet was down to having an
affinity mask that was a multiple of 7 <g> )
HTH
Jasper Smith (SQL Server MVP)
http://www.sqldbatips.com
I support PASS - the definitive, global
community for SQL Server professionals -
http://www.sqlpass.org
"Rich" <Rich@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E9805C2D-3522-4194-BCB4-58307D1E8422@.microsoft.com...[vbcol=seagreen]
> Hello Mike,
> thanks for the answer. I am getting flack for wanting to test Service
> Packs
> before they go into production.
> Rich
> "Mike Epprecht (SQL MVP)" wrote:
>