Hi,

We like to stagger our patches a bit in case we find something that goes wrong.  I have created an Automatic Deployment Rule that goes and gets the various patches.  In the past we'd setup multiple ADRs that would all run at the same time but would wait 0, 7, or 14 days to become available  & deadline and each would be assigned to a certain collection.

I'm wondering if it'd be easier to just use 1 ADR that would deploy to all 3 of our groups and then just use Maintenance Windows to control when each group would install their updates.  Any reasons why one would be better or worse than the other?

Thanks.

One alternative is to manually create (or script) additional deployments on the software update group created/updated by the ADR. 

I often use the MW approach for servers but avoid MWs for workstations/laptops as there is no guarentee that they will actually be on during the MW.

It really depends upon your overall requirements and inclinations which is best for you.

Knowing what an ADR actually does is important here also. Remember that ADRs are *not* deploed. ADRs simply create or update update groups, update packages, and update deployments. It is these objects that actually what happens with updates in your environment.