Updating with no internet connection

  • Thread starter Thread starter djb
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djb

Greetings

I have inherited a small network (6 win98SE workstations and win2000
small business server). I have no idea when it was last updated etc
except that I did the blaster worm vulnerability when it was an issue
- other than that it could be a couple of years.

The server is connected to a permanent dialup but the guy who does the
hardware says to get ADSL as there is no way that dialup will ever
cope with what it would take to get the server patched and up to date
- he said it would just fall over and die and not to bother trying.
The small company doesn't want ADSL - permanent dialup is cheap and
all they need for their minimal onine stuff.

Is there anyway of patching etc by getting the patches somewhere and
applying them locally instead of using live update?

(This network will be upgrading to win2000 in January next year)

Sorry if this sounds dumb - most of what I do there relates to helping
the secretaries use their workstation and software and somehow the
server thing has become by responsibility despite my lack of
expertise. I am learning, though, and would apprciate any advice or
opinions on how to look after this properly.

Thank you

Deb
 
Deb,

If your dial-up access is used only for short periods of
time, I would not overly concern yourself with having all
the latest patches.
When I was in a similar position several years ago, I
looked for computer magazines with cover disks containing
the latest service packs.

If the Windows 98 systems are to be replaced completely,
then I would not consider trying to update those now.

Essentially the main updates you might want to apply will
be the Service Packs for the Small Business Server
components you use. Those are Windows 2000 (SP4) for sure
and potentially, Exchange 2000 (SP3), Internet Security
and Acceleration Server (ISA server SP1) and SQL Server
(SP3).
Note: SQL Server is not normally installed, unless you
have a specfic requirement for it.

Even once you have the Windows 2000 workstation systems, I
would still only install the major service packs.

I'm not saying the security updates aren't important, just
that as you only have dial-up access and assuming it isn't
used 24hrs a day your potential vulnerability is
significantly smaller than it would be with an ADSL
connection.

Hope this helps a bit.

Tony
 
Thank you. I went to the website and there is a note there that
Service Pack 4 is available and "This service pack also includes the
updates contained in previous Windows 2000 service packs." Does this
mean if I purchased this CD then I would have everything necessary to
upgrade it? Or are there things missing that still need to be
downloaded?

If I did purchase the CD, would I still need to pick and choose what I
used?

Deb

neo said:
All critical patches and service packs can be manually downloaded through
the Microsoft web site.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com (you need to go through the catalog)
http://support.microsoft.com
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000
Click to expand...
--
Neo [MVP Outlook]
Due to the Swen virus, all e-mails sent to this account will be deleted
w/out reading.


djb said:
Greetings

Is there anyway of patching etc by getting the patches somewhere and
applying them locally instead of using live update?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
The dial up is only used for short periods but it is connected 24
hours - it handles just the email of the staff plus I have set up
Enterprise Manager from Sophos to do the packages 4 times a day.

We don't use Exchange at all. From my understanding it would helpful
for us to use it but I'm not at that place yet. The database
application uses SQL - I really don't know if it uses Microsoft SQL
server itself - I will find out - is it possible to use an application
that uses SQL without uses the Microsoft SQL server itself on the
Server?

Thank you for your response. It must sound pretty frightening to have
someone like me looking after your server but I do plan to do a course
soon and newsgroups are an amazing source of information. I'm only
there are few hours a week so it's a challenge to keep on top of it.

Deb
 
Hi Deb,

In spite of what Tony says, I would still put on the patches as they
come available. I'm not disagreeing with him exactly, but it sometimes
only takes a few minutes for a newly online system to be attacked.
*I'd* feel safer if it was me!

You say the dialup is connected 24 hours. That would mean that you are
connected 24 hours to the Internet! Is that what you mean, or do you
have "demand-dialling" where the modem dials up when it has to, or on
a scheduled basis?

In addition, you don't say, but do you have an Antivirus solution on
all machines? I'd strongly advise it.

Lastly, at least where I am, an ADSL connection for a light user such
as you would probably work out cheaper than a permanently connected
dial up line! This is because, where I am, ADSL is a fixed charge (up
to a certain traffic limit) and allows you to also use the phone line
whenever you want without cutting off the modem connection.

Say you now have 5 phone lines (including the dialup). With ADSL you
could manage with 3 ordinary phones linesand an ADSL/phone line.
However I don't know if that's the way that they do it where you are.
I do know that if I were connected permanently through a phone line,
the per minute charges would be astronomical!

Cheers,

Cliff
 
SP4 wouldn't include the latest critical hotfixes. (e.g. it wouldn't include
the patches that addressed a vulnerability that the W32.Blaster worm took
advantage of.) http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/current.asp should
help you isolate the ones you would need after applying SP4.

--
Neo [MVP Outlook]
Due to the Swen virus, all e-mails sent to this account will be deleted
w/out reading.


djb said:
Thank you. I went to the website and there is a note there that
Service Pack 4 is available and "This service pack also includes the
updates contained in previous Windows 2000 service packs." Does this
mean if I purchased this CD then I would have everything necessary to
upgrade it? Or are there things missing that still need to be
downloaded?

If I did purchase the CD, would I still need to pick and choose what I
used?

Deb

"neo [mvp outlook]" <[email protected]> wrote in message
All critical patches and service packs can be manually downloaded through
the Microsoft web site.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com (you need to go through the catalog)
http://support.microsoft.com
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000
Click to expand...
--
Neo [MVP Outlook]
Due to the Swen virus, all e-mails sent to this account will be deleted
w/out reading.


djb said:
Greetings

Is there anyway of patching etc by getting the patches somewhere and
applying them locally instead of using live update?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Thank you for your response, Cliff.

Where I am the permanent dialup is a fixed annual rate with a minimal
per megabyte charge. The phone line itself is not charged per minute -
it is a fixed monthly line rental plus charge per dial in only. The
log for the dialup shows that it drops out and dials in pretty
regularly once a night - around 1AM. I have done all the sums and with
a permanent dialup, including the phone line rental and the phone call
for each connection it comes in under the monthly ADSL fee, and then
there are all the setup costs of ADSL. I am still in the research
stage, though, and will keep what you say in mind cost wise. It is a
hard decision because though it doesn't sound like a lot of money more
it still is more and has to be justified in a small business. We do
have 5 lines and it would reduce to 4.

For anti virus we use Sophos with Enterprise Manager - it is
fantastic, it updates the packages automatically 4 times a day and it
updates the workstations on boot up or on demand. They have the most
amazingly helpful help desk - I couldn't recommend them more highly.
Of all the help desks I have had to contact over the years I have
never had such a consistently pleasant and helpful response.

Thanks again for your thoughts

Deb
 
Thanks Debs. Wish I could use your telco! <grin>

Looks like you got it pretty well under control.... Sophis sounds
interesting.

Cheers,

Cliff
 
Great - thank you - this is very helpful.

Deb

neo said:
SP4 wouldn't include the latest critical hotfixes. (e.g. it wouldn't include
the patches that addressed a vulnerability that the W32.Blaster worm took
advantage of.) http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/current.asp should
help you isolate the ones you would need after applying SP4.

--
Neo [MVP Outlook]
Due to the Swen virus, all e-mails sent to this account will be deleted
w/out reading.


djb said:
Thank you. I went to the website and there is a note there that
Service Pack 4 is available and "This service pack also includes the
updates contained in previous Windows 2000 service packs." Does this
mean if I purchased this CD then I would have everything necessary to
upgrade it? Or are there things missing that still need to be
downloaded?

If I did purchase the CD, would I still need to pick and choose what I
used?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Sorry for the delay in writing back, but I see you are
getting helpful advice.

If you are not already using Exchange, it is certainly
worth considering. I would suggest checking that your
anti-virus software will work with Exchange, as many
products require specific server versions.
Similarly, if you are not using the ISA server, that is
worth considering too.
However, whilst Windows 2000 Small Business Server gives
you everything you need in terms of server functionality,
it requires a reasonably powerful system to run all the
server components simultaneously.

I'm no expert on SQL myself, but I'd assume a SQL database
would require SQL server. To check for SQL server on your
small business server, click the Start button, then choose
Programs, Microsoft SQL Server. If you see Enterprise
Manager, then you have the SQL server software installed.
As for checking whether it is in use, you can do so via
the Enterprise Manager program. Expand the menu tree in
the left pane, until you see your server name, expand that
again and choose Management, then SQL Server Logs. That
will show activity or not, as the case maybe.

Managing such as system can be slightly daunting, but in
reality it will largely run itself. Doing a course should
help you and it might be any idea to look for books that
help you too.
I would suggest looking at the event logs, under
Adminstrative Tools and familiarising yourself with
messages that occur regularly, that way if something
strange begins to happen you are more likely to notice
those new messages.

Tony
 
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