Patent ID: 8522231

Claim:
A method of updating a plurality of computers, the method comprising: partitioning, by a management center, a population distribution into a plurality of segments, wherein each segment corresponds with members of a branch office; selecting randomly a first computer in the branch office, wherein the branch office comprises the plurality of computers, the plurality of computers are connected by a local area network, and an update source is connected to the branch office by an Internet connection; creating in the update source, a first message comprising one or more instructions identifying the plurality of computers in the branch office, and an address of a message repository; transmitting the first message to the first computer using a Push or a Pull protocol; transmitting a second message to the first computer using the Push or Pull protocol, the second message comprising an update data, the update data retrieved from the address in the first message; executing in the first computer, one or more of the instructions in the first message with regard to the update data; updating the address in the first message to match the address of the first computer; transmitting an updated first message to a randomly selected un-updated computer in the plurality of computers, wherein the randomly selected un-updated computer retrieves the update data from the first computer; repeating transmission of the second message to randomly selected un-updated computers in the plurality of computers, each transmission performed by a most recently updated computer until all of the plurality of computers have been updated, wherein the executing and updating are accomplished by an un-updated computer retrieving the update data from an address in the currently updated first message received from the most recently updated computer; and responsive to all computers of the plurality of computers having been updated, returning, by a last computer to be updated, a distribution status document indicating an update status of the plurality of computers to the update source.