At Acorn, we have a standard set of base applications that we push out to all of our client computers. These include but are not limited to Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Flash Player, and Java. These applications are typically the target of malware applications and as such, require constant updating. I will describe our the system that I have developed to keep our client computers up-to-date.
Backups are the critical service that Acorn provides. Using a combination RSync and proprietary management software, we are quickly and easily able to verify that backups complete and take action when they don't. For details on the implementation, keep reading.
With Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Microsoft got rid of the web management interface to which we were so accustomed. With the objective of providing the update status of our managed computers all the way to our customer service representatives, I have developed a web and email interface for WSUS that provides real-time views of customer equipment from our WSUS server.
A simple AJAX powered In/Out board built using PHP, Javascript, JQuery and MySQL.