There is an Android App remote control (Kodi) that works nicely.

WSUS is the way to go. I've used WSUS in a lot of AD domain environments, but you don't need a domain to deploy WSUS: https://technet.microsoft.com/... With WSUS you can cherry-pick and approve updates individually. You can also easily write auto-approval rules for precisely what you're looking for (If update is of type "Security Update", then Approve).

Live Sync does a fair job of syncing folders in Windows (sorry) hosts. Whenever both computers have internet access, the folders sync. Live ID required (again, sorry.) Few limits on data (no files larger than 4GB, no more than 20,000 or so folders?)

Live Mesh is a similar Microsoft offering, but also give you web access to your files and stores a copy on the cloud. Sadly, there is a 5GB limit on total data.