windows update cache

Fri Sep 28 17:32:36 UTC 2007

On Sep 28, 2007, at 1:05 PM, Steve Gibbard wrote:

>
> On Fri, 28 Sep 2007, Seth Mattinen wrote:
>
>>
>> Adrian Chadd wrote:
>>> On Fri, Sep 28, 2007, Joe Johnson wrote:
>>>> Windows Software Update Services doesn't require the end-user to  
>>>> be part
>>>> of a domain to get updates. You just need to define the WSUS  
>>>> server as
>>>> the source for updates by changing a few registry entries and  
>>>> make sure
>>>> the server is available via HTTP or HTTPS to your customers. You  
>>>> can
>>>> read more at Microsoft's site.
>>>> Also, WSUS is free to run on any Windows server.
>>> Great if you're running a windows IT type LAN; crap if you're  
>>> running an
>>> ISP!
>>
>> Why? It talks TCP/IP.
>
> This seems like a question of how much control ISPs have over  
> customers' PCs at this point.  In my day (when we had to push  
> packets up hill through 28.8 kbps modems, both ways...), we used to  
> send out CDs to all our customers that would install web browsers  
> and mail clients, and change the computers' dial-up networking  
> settings to match our network.  Changing some registry strings for  
> Windows Update would have been trivial.
>
> The ISPs I've dealt with recently as an end user tend to just send  
> out a cable or DSL to ethernet bridge and let DHCP do the rest.   
> This is progress, as it means devices can move from place to place  
> and just work, but I don't think it provides a way to change  
> registry settings.

And, even if it did, once the customer leaves and goes to another ISP  
they would likely still be pointing at your server -- this means that:
a: their windows updates would break or
b: you would carry on servicing them and paying for BW, etc

W

(Yes, yes, unless the new ISP gives them a CD that changes the  
registry settings too...)

>
> -Steve
>

--
Hope is not a strategy.
       --  Ben Treynor, Google