Q:

Need Windows Update detailed backgrounder

I really dislike the Windows Update service.  
On the servers I manage, it continually consumes significant CPU and bandwidth, fills up storage in SoftwareDistribution which it never seems to release, and the updates often fail.
The progress feedback is appalling.  For a recent update, it sat on 0% for three hours, then 45% for another two hours, then 90% for another hour, then reported a failure, with a 32-bit error code.
I have really have enough of my time and server resources being wasted in this way, especially since "updates" are only needed to fix problems in faulty releases anyway.
Now to the point:  I have recently discovered the Microsoft Update Catalog, and I successfully installed the pending updates manually with much less friction.  
So my intention is to disable the Windows Update service (this reduces background CPU activity from 40% to less than 5%, a real blessing) and simply install the critical updates manually when they become available.
So I want to get better acquainted with the update cycle and finding out which updates are due on which dates for my OS (Server 2016).  I'm already familiar with Patch Tuesday, but I want more detail on the release cycle of minor updates.
Also some background on dependencies between updates, I gather some require previous ones to already be in place.  
Some kind of declaring historical listing would be great, but I haven't had much luck getting a detailed statement of this from anywhere.
Can someone point me to something helpful, ideally official?

A:

I would recommend you getting familiar with Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-server-update-services/get-started/windows-server-update-services-wsus. 
Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) enables you to deploy the latest Microsoft product updates. You can use WSUS to fully manage the distribution of updates that are released through Microsoft Update to computers on your network. That means full control, deploy, postpone, or disable the update altogether.
It also allows you an excellent level of automation based on predefined policies that will enable you to install only the updates you need in the desired manner and within approved time frames.

