AV Solutions - whats best and why?

[dellboy]

(A real open question here which does not seem to have been discussed elsewhere, if it has please point me in that direction)

What in your opinion is the best AV solution package?

The network consists of 12 clients and 2 servers, one running exchange 2000. I wish to centrally manage the AV solution to all 12 desktops, running XP and 2000, there are also 2 laptops.
I want updates to be downloaded automatically from the AV solution provider website and then inturn update the clients on the network.

The options up for consideration are Sophos, Symantec and McAfee. Any opinions, particularly those with experience of differing products would be greatfully received. I am not stuck with the 3 options above but these are what i am researching at the moment, if you know of something better please let me know

Cheers

 

[2ffat]

We have been using Sophos for several years. Very powerful. Great support. (My two cents worth.)

James P. Cottingham

When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity.
[tab][tab]Albert Einstein explaining his Theory of Relativity to a group of journalists.

 

[KimberTech]

If you are able to go Sophos, that would be my choice as well. Support is HUGE, and it works really well.

If I were you, I would research in help sites for problems.
Look in the technical support areas of the product manufacturer.

Look for things like known issues with software that you are using on your machines.

Tek-Tips is a good place to start.

If you know what troubles others are having with certain products, you can compare with the software and hardware combinations you have in your office to see if any of these issues apply to you.

Good Luck!


Members of Tek-Tips provide answers to questions based on the information given. For the best answers, post detailed descriptions of the issue. Use the search features of the site to see if your issue was already addressed in another thread.

 

[FatesWebb]

I feel Mcafee is the best, from looking at the stats. mcafee finds them first, almost every time, with tred coming in second. also mcafee hold the market share on corporate market.

FatesWebb

if you do what I suggested it is not my fault...

 

[dkediger]

3rd vote for Sophos. It simply works and works well. Its not as flashy as the others, but in over 4 years time, I have yet to find it at fault for system problems as I have seen with other AV products.

 

[wbg34]

I have used Symantec Corporate AV for 2 years now and the central management features have been great. I am in the process of switching to E-trust V7 primarily for financial reasons (2 year maint package is 1/3 the cost of Symantec). I have been pleased with the support from both companies.

 

[bfralia]

Another vote for McAfee - been using it four years in a corporate network. Support is good and for the most part it does what it's supposed to do. We have the full Active Virus Defense, run ePO, etc.

 

[JohnD76]

I have used a fair few AV products including the mainstream big boys.

My 2 cents would go on NOD32. Very quick, low CPU and Memory overheads and workstation software installs on a server *cough*

Also supports setting up a network mirror for updates. I found Panda quite good too, though uses more CPU than NOD32.

I also would advise using something like TDS (trojan defence suite) this will capture things that most AV products miss, for example DDOS bots.

John.

 

[wmccall]

Have you looked at cost yet? I've not used the Sophos some are mentioning. I just became IT manager where I am now in February and they were using a set of products from Trend Micro (antivirus.com)

Another factor that might be worth checking is how often they update their definitions. I haven't had an outbreak since "I love you" We started getting that one about 6 hours before McAfee sent their update.

 

[ChrisBurch]

I've been using Trend Neatsuite for the last 3 years in a 6 server 60 client enviroment, and have not had a virus get through. I have set the scheduler to look for updates every hour, and propogate them immediately a new update is available. Sometimes there are no updates in a day, usually it updates by 2 release points, occaisionally I have had 6 point releases in a 24 hr period.

I also block about 30 attachment file types, and quarantine the files. This involves a fair bit a effort in respect to passing legitimate files on, but has prevented several first release viruses.

Chris

IT would be the perfect job......if it didn't have users!!!

 

[Ali147gta]

Another vote for Sophos here, not only are they ver very good with support but they are often one of the first with updates available.

shame im forced to deploy symantec security client....

 

[aquias]

Well, I'm on the Symantec train myself. I do have to say that I haven't used Sophos and haven't truly played with Mcafee for a few years now.

Symantec is easy, updated regularly (weekly/daily depending on your method) and is extremely powerful.

 

[erikhertzel]

My vote is for Symantec as well, great Central MMC and very good control for an IT person running a network. I have used Mcafee as well, seems to be a bit more load on the server side, but it works very well also.

Erik

 

[BIS]

OK, another one for Sophos...

 

[spi200]

Symantec is hard to beat, Sophos is crap (Sorry). We have both in our company and many Viruses have got thru Sophos only to be picked up elsewhere be the Symantec. Also Sophos needs a download Server, not so good for the exec who takes his laptop home. The laptop comes back to the office out of date. Also any Sophos engine more than tree months old requires you to manually do the install, its a bit hard when your accross town. Sophos is cheap thats all !!!
If your work is important than protect it with the best you can find.
We have a licenses of Sophos for all company employee's to use on home PC for free and not one of the Techo's use it to protect there PC's. Everybody wants to steal the Symantec CD.
We are not a small company (Top 200)and we turnover 24 Billion on avarage every day, so it must be the best!

Regards

David
LAN Adminstrator

 

[2ffat]

spi200,

Beg to differ. If Sophos is set up properly, it's not hard to keep everybody updated, even remote sites/users. Never had a virus get through Sophos. Symantec on the other hand . . .



James P. Cottingham
-----------------------------------------
[sup]To determine how long it will take to write and debug a program, take your best estimate, multiply that by two, add one, and convert to the next higher units.[/sup]

 

[MasterRacker]

If you plan to use any product from Symantec: Add a second processor and 2GB of RAM so the Symantec product might leave some resources for your applications.

[purple]Jeff
It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day

 

[ntco]

I would agree with MasterRacker, hands down one of the biggest drawbacks of Symantec is it's bloat (and cost actually).

Someone mentioned above that McAfee's centralized management is good too (like Symantec's MMC), and I would agree. The corporate editions of both McAfee and Symantec are pretty good--the big difference being McAfee does put more load onto the server whereas Symantec puts a heavy load onto all the clients. I actually think McAfee is better in that regard--and again, Symantec is also a little more expensive.

As far as detection & updates, both companies have slipped up once for us at my company (with either not coming out with an update for a good long time, or coming out with an update that didn't work in catching the intended virus).

For cost/bloat reasons alone, I think Sophos is a viable option as well as Trendmicro.

 

[jrbarnett]

I work in an environment where Sophos is used, and for virus protection I can't fault it.
Trouble is, that's all it is. Unlike, for example, Norton and AVG, it does not attempt to pick up some adware and spyware packages.
Therefore, any place that has Sophos should have extra software available for detecting Adware/spyware/malware/diallers.

My £0.02 as I'm UK based.

John