Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
to ensure that updates do not compromise critical application function-
ality. The use of virtualized computing environments makes this sig-
nificantly less expensive, because a test network need not consume the
same processing power as your production environment, allowing a single
physical host to support multiple virtualized test servers. In some cases, a
single powerful physical host might support a full test network by itself.
Automated Updates
There is no such thing as a “permanently secure” computer, due to the
steady evolution of new threats and new defensive measures to meet each
in turn. Physical warfare evolved from striking, piercing, and crushing
weapons and animal hide defensive armor to include ever more powerful
ranged weapons and metal-reinforced armor types. This in turn required
the evolution of longbows and plate armor, which the emergence of cross-
bows made no longer viable as a form of personal defense. Mobile barri-
ers became armored transports, while crossbows gave way to gunpowder
weapons. Today's tanks and armor-piercing rounds continue this evolu-
tion, extending all the way back to the first person who developed the
original “superweapon” in the form of a rock tied to a branch.
Network computing has followed the same pattern of offensive and
defensive evolution, first one and then the other in a cycle of response
and increasing sophistication. When new patches are released, automated
tools provide attackers with rapid reverse engineering of corrected vul-
nerabilities, allowing directed attacks to be fashioned and released often
even before operators can apply the new updates across their extended
enterprise environments. Automated update services ensure that new
updates can be applied automatically across large and widely distributed
networks. These services are absolutely vital for all networks of more than
a tiny handful of systems, and provide the greatest reduction in direct
human support for workstation maintenance.
Retirement (License Recovery)
During tech refresh as well as normal system maintenance processes,
machines will be reloaded or removed from service. Without a regis-
try of software and licensing, together with a formal policy for license
