Looking for opinions on eTrust Antivirus and integration with NetWare

[Mateo1041]

Greetings,

We have been searching for a nice anti-virus solution for a while now and have been thinking of going the eTrust Antivirus route on our server. A bonus is that we can remotely automatically install and update this software on our workstations as well (about 15 of them). We currently have NetWare 6.0 and Citrix Metaframe XP running.

First, I'd like to hear if anyone has any good or bad experiences with eTrust Antivirus. Or is there better out there? As we would like to eventually find an anti-spam solution as well, is there a program out there that does both? I like the price and we have gone with this company before (we currently have InnoculateIT).

Second, we currently run InnoculateIT (for NetWare I believe) and NetShield for our Windows NT Terminal Server. What would be a good procedure for testing out new anti-virus software? I'd hate to be unprotected for even a few minutes. How tricky would it be to uninstall our current two programs and install eTrust Antivirus (including configuration) instead? Would this protect both NetWare and our Windows NT Terminal Server system? Or would I need to install it twice, once on each system (two separate servers, but which work together)?

Thanks for any help you can offer. I always highly value input here at Tek-Tips.

- Matt.

 

[marvhuffaker]

Matt, personally I like McAfee Netshield because you can setup automatic downloads of the virus definitions and they can also be distributed to the workstations (using the desktop version). Although it's not perfect, once you get it tweaked it is pretty stable and reliable.

I have no experience with eTrust Antivirus but my opinion of CA products in general is pretty low. Whatever you do to test this solution for your company, I do not recommend the scenario you described. Too risky and could effect your production environment. Build a test server(s), mess with the product on there, and leave your production servers alone. If you do decide to go with it, you can then plan your deployment just like you would any other installation.


Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[terry712]

i concur

CA were fine for backup's up until 6.6

virus stuff - they have always sucked
mcafee may not be the best but it's easy once setup and works well
also it seems to be the preferred choice in relation to cool solution tids

 

[1oldfoxman]

We just switched from McAfee to eTrust for our over 500 workstations (Netware 6/Win2K network, users only see the Netware client). McAfee licensing became prohibitively expensive - we were satisfied with their product OK, but eTrust was half the price for a much longer period of use. (licensing x500 adds up quickly. Our network guys push the original install and updated sig files automatically to all workstations at login. We have been very satisfied thus far, having switched in October.

 

[FarOut]

First of all let me expand upon marvhuffaker, & terry712's thoughts on CA. We have over $750K wrapped up in CA's products (TND aka TNG, ArcServe). The support we have received from CA is downright poor at best. And factor in the man hours on these products and you have what I call a White Elephant(s). I would never introduce another CA product into our network.

With that said, we currently use Symantec to protect or desktops. We use Virus Definition Management servers to push the latest AV definitions to the desktop, usually once a week unless there has been a virus alert like the one for W32.Novarg.A@mm, then definitions are pushed as soon as they are available. We also are looking @ McAfee for a better way of protecting our clients. The reasons for leaving Symantec are to lenghthy do go into here. I don't beleive that you can put a price on protecting your network from attacks by virus's. If you find a product that meshes with your network and proves it's worth, then I would stay with it. If that is eTrust then that is what you should use. Best of luck in finding your solution.

FarOut
V-Peace-V

 

[Mateo1041]

Thanks for all your responses so far. Unfortunately, we do not have an additional test server as we are a smaller non-profit company.

Is there any virus software out there that works well with GroupWise in blocking virii? This would be great for our users as currently quite a few email viruses get through.

Currently, we do have McAfee NetShield running on our Windows NT Terminal Server. However, I have never seen an option to automatically update workstations with it. I'll have to look into that.

It appears that various solutions will work differently for various people. I may just go with McAfee or similar as that has worked for us in the past.

- Matt.

 

[MichiganRon]

Matt,

We use McAfee with GWAVA (

http://www.gwava.com)

to scan all of our email for viruses. Because you work for a non-profit, your company may be eligible for discount pricing from both companies.

If you find that you cannot afford GWAVA and you're using GW 6.5, look into setting up your anti-virus software as a "trusted application" in GroupWise. I've heard that it can be done so that your email is scanned for viruses, but I haven't had a need to look into it yet.

Good luck,
-Ron

We all play from the same deck of cards, it's how we play the hand we are dealt which makes us who we are. -Me

murof siht edisni kcuts m'I - PLEH