How many antivirus applications should I have? 1

[ScotH]

I have a single virus scanner setup on my Exchange server, and another virus scanner from the same vendor setup on my NetWare server. I thought about having two virus scanners on my Exchange server in case a virus should slip through one of them.

I have also thought about replacing the scanner on the NetWare server, and instead use a scanner from a vendor different from the vendor that provides my Exchange scanner. Again, this will provide protection in case a virus slips through the other antivirus software. It also provides some protection in case the website for one of the vendors is not available for downloading updated signatures.

Does this sound like a reasonable approach to ensuring protection from viruses? The obvious downside would be the administrative hassle of having software from multiple vendors.

 

[AVChap]

It's reasonable, but not in this situation. The scanners on the Exchange servers will NOT detect any virus being saved on the logical drive. It will only detect viruses passing through email, whether internal or external. Having a file scanner and an email scanner on your Exchange server, either from the same vendor or different vendors, is recommended.

Also, I don't think it will be possible ( I may be wrong) to install two AV progs in your Exchange server. Even if it were, it would greatly affect the performance of the server. You're creating unnecessary work for yourself.

Hope this helps.

AVChap

 

[epohl]

I have found it is easier to use one product, for easier support as you mentioned. But usually you will also get a price discount if you buy numerous products from one vendor. I would also recommend not only AV on servers but also on ALL client machines. I definitely would not recommend running more that one product at a time on the same machine, sometimes these products cause problems if more than one is installed.

 

[ScotH]

Thanks for your comments. Some antivirus Exchange agents can not run simultaneously with another antivirus Exchange agent, but a couple can. Sybari Antigen apparently can, and InoculateIT can run with its own engine and the VET engine. It looks like VET (

http://www.vet.com.au)

is an Australian antivirus package that was either started or bought by Computer Associates.

 

[polymath5]

What I've done for my company is NAVCE for our servers/workstations. I hit Symantec site daily for updates. I run MDaemon, not Exchange, so no special things needed for email.

All incoming/outgoing email goes through MessageLabs scanning towers. They put it through 4 scanning engines, before it even hits our firewall.

My firewall strips off all attachments except for .doc, .xls, .pdf and .zip.

Seems to work well.

 

[AVChap]

Polymath5,

But that's not the same as running your own Exchange server. MessageLabs is an email service which uses 4 different AV programs for scanning.

ScotH,

Like what I mentioned earlier, it's not advisable to run 2 or more AV progs on your mail server. It's up to you if you still want to continue on this path.

Cheers,

AVChap

 

[polymath5]

Hi AVChap,

My message was intended to show what we've done to guard against Virus attacks.

I wanted to get accross that we have a one vendor solution running locally on all servers/workstations.

For additional protection (as ScotH seemed to want to not depend on one solution, which I agree with) I thought he might like to know of a great service to protect against an email born virus. MessageLabs is a great way to go regardless of the Email server being run (MDaemon, Exchange, what ever). You don't have any admin worries with it and it checks incoming/outgoing mail through 4 AV engins.

I'm in agreement with you that it's not a good idea to run multiple AV programs on a mail or any other server.

 

[ScotH]

Correction, InoculateIT can run either the native engine or the VET engine, but not both simultaneously. Syabari Antigen, however, can run up to 5 engines simultaneously. I haven't worked with it, though.