Hi,
I've not used either product to date and I'm looking for a tool to keep the hosts and VM's patched. These look similar, are there any docs comparing the two?
Many thanks
Graham
Update Manager would be used for patch management of your Hosts. You can also use it for VMware Tools and vHardware upgrades of the guests. vCenter Protect (Shavlik) is for patch management of your guests. vCenter protect can also be used against your physical Infrastructure (Non ESX)
Before vSphere 5 came out, you were able to patch VM OS via Update Manager. Then VMware bought Shavlik and took away the capability to patch OS's via Update Manager. By buying Shavlik, they created a new product (Protect) to patch the VM OS, but you still want to use Update Manager to patch your Hosts.
If you are looking to patch Windows OS, you could use WSUS (Free - Microsoft). I have not personally used Protect so I am not sure how good it is.
