When should you update lab servers according to best practices?

Updating lab servers before updating production servers aligns with best practices in IT operations and change management. The primary purpose of lab servers is to serve as a testing environment where patches, updates, and new configurations can be applied and validated without impacting the live production environment. This approach allows teams to identify any potential issues, conflicts, or unexpected behaviors that could arise from the updates before they affect end users or critical systems.

By first updating the lab servers, IT staff can thoroughly test the changes to ensure they perform as expected. This helps to minimize downtime, reduce the risk of introducing bugs into the production environment, and ultimately, leads to a smoother and more predictable update process when it is time to update the production servers. Having a controlled environment to assess and troubleshoot any problems makes it easier to maintain system stability and availability, which is essential in a professional setting.