Hi, When updating / patching SharePoint Web Front End servers is it best practice to shut down the entire farm first ? Is there a capability to (in a dual WFE setup) patch each server in isolation without bringing down the farm and therefore allowing the end users uninterrupted access?

Hi, no need to shut down any farm. You can go to Central Admin > Operations > Global configuration > Quiesce Farm And select the option to make server idle, this will stop users to make any changes in farm and you can install / upgrade patches.Regards, Pratik Vyas | SharePoint Consultant | http://sharepointpratik.blogspot.com/

Microsoft documented it all for us: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263467(office.12).aspx Jeff Holliday, MCTS - Solution Architect - Collaboration - Ensynch, Inc.

Hi BillyBleep, In addition to Pratik and Jeff said above, you should also notice that you should stop the World Wide Web publishing service on all front-end Web servers to disconnect all the users from the server farm. In server farms with multiple front-end Web servers, if you allow users to connect after the files and databases have been updated on one Web server but not on other Web servers, users cannot browse the Web sites. Regards.