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Best Practice for Windows Server 2012 R2 and 2016 for 24/7 Operating Manufacturing System.
Hello, We have about 60 Windows 2012 R2 and 2016 servers for 24/7 operating manufacturing lines. These servers seem to have not updated at all since 2018, I have to plan how to update these server...
I am not sure what will happen if I don't install the Security Only Updates prior 8/2020
It won't hurt to try, if there's a prerequisite or requirement then the update will throw "not applicable" and exit.
I just patched 30 windows servers 2012 R2 and 2016 with Monthly rollups, didn't have any issues.
For 2012 R2:
Since July 2020, Only security patches have been added to Monthly rollup. So the cumulative update is quite stable. 0.5GB
For 2016:
You need to install the latests SSU (Servicing Stack Update) which helps to install update well, then apply Monthly rollup. 1.5GB
Things to note:
- Windows Monthly rollup doesn't contain .net update, .net update has its own update scheme with quality update and security update. So, it's safe that the monthly rollup won't break the old .net application running on the server.
- Windows server monthly rollup is classfied as 'Security Critical' so, most of updates are security updates and some reliability fix which will not affect applications running. I used to have lots of issues after update for 2008 but it seems like Microsoft did a good job from 2012 for monthly rollup which is stable.
Over all, patching new windows server install or not updated windows server with monthly rollup is the way to go.
For 2012 R2:
Since July 2020, Only security patches have been added to Monthly rollup. So the cumulative update is quite stable. 0.5GB
For 2016:
You need to install the latests SSU (Servicing Stack Update) which helps to install update well, then apply Monthly rollup. 1.5GB
Things to note:
- Windows Monthly rollup doesn't contain .net update, .net update has its own update scheme with quality update and security update. So, it's safe that the monthly rollup won't break the old .net application running on the server.
- Windows server monthly rollup is classfied as 'Security Critical' so, most of updates are security updates and some reliability fix which will not affect applications running. I used to have lots of issues after update for 2008 but it seems like Microsoft did a good job from 2012 for monthly rollup which is stable.
Over all, patching new windows server install or not updated windows server with monthly rollup is the way to go.