How does sys admin apply Windows updates to many computers?

Question

A large company having many intranet nodes where many secretaries, managers etc are busy working away. They turn on desktops in a.m. and turn off at going home time.
I ask because I, like all windows users gets the 'updates available' popup and we go through the usual drill...
But the workers in this company never see this 'updates available' popup. I presume the sys admin do!
So... how, if indeed they do, apply updates to 100's of desktops all running Win O/S?

Answer 1

Assuming your network is configured as a domain environment, you need to install a WSUS (Windows Server Update Service) Server.

Answer 2

There are several ways to do it. In the company I work for we use management software to do it for us. Each computer has a small app installed that communicates with one special server. The special server then tells the remote systems to run Windows updates, AV scans and other routine maintenance at a time I set them to run at. It scans the machines for missing Windows updates and then downloads them from the Microsoft site and installs them.

Answer 3

You can use a WSUS server, or SMS will do this as well. I'm sure there are also some third party apps.