Product Reviews
Control Right Out of the Box
Panda Antivirus Enterprise Suite keeps those viruses at bay.
Today’s networks and systems are simply plagued with malware. Viruses,
Trojans, worms and all kinds of nasty critters are just itching to make
your life trouble. As a systems administrator, you really need to focus
on getting an adequate level of protection on all the systems across your
enterprise. That’s been the hard part, but Panda’s Antivirus Enterprise
Suite makes it easy.
As a user and deployer of quite a few corporate and enterprise-wide,
anti-virus solutions, I found that Panda had a lot to offer. Panda’s Antivirus
Enterprise Suite is a centrally managed solution that automatically deploys
and updates signatures on your enterprise servers and workstations. It
is—simply enough—a well-made product.
In my test lab, I worked with the product extensively. I installed it
on a file and application server to which I added viruses, and the Panda
Antivirus Enterprise Suite caught them all. The figure shows a listing
of the various viruses this tool discovered.
Out of the box, Panda Antivirus Enterprise Suite is a powerhouse when
it comes to finding bugs. I hadn’t even updated the signatures, yet it
quickly found the Trojans I put all over my test server. Back Orifice
was grabbed up immediately, as well as 14 other nasty tools I set up.
I also placed a few JavaScript exploits in some obscure directories and
Panda found them all.
So what’s so great about this product? I think any product that offers
automatic deployment and daily updated definitions is a winner. It can
be tedious to update anti-virus software every day, especially when a
new scare pops up about a new virus. I thought that Panda was a winner
in this category.
I wasn’t thrilled with the speed, although I’m not saying
any other package is much faster. If you have a large environment (which
I simulated with 10 servers), it takes a little while to start up because
of the way Panda enumerates its servers. I determined mathematically that
if I multiplied my test scenario by 10 (a total of 100 servers), the startup
wouldn’t be quick; but for a product of this caliber, this really isn’t
an issue.
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| Panda’s Antivirus Enterprise Suite quickly catches
a variety of viruses. (Click image to view larger version.) |
The other item of interest is the Panda Administrator. This is the centralized
console where you can manage all deployment tasks, allowing you to deploy
anti-virus software to client workstations and servers almost effortlessly.
In sum, I really liked this product. Anyone looking at deploying an enterprise-wide,
anti-virus solution should get a Panda Antivirus evaluation kit and try
it out. It’s truly a worthwhile product with low maintenance and few headaches
that provides the virus-free peace of mind you want and deserve.
About the Author
Robert J. Shimonski, MCSE, MCP+I, CCDP, CCNP, NNCSS, Master CNE,
is a lead network and security engineer for a major
manufacturing firm and part-time technical instructor. Robert's
specialties include network infrastructure design with multiple
technologies and developing a host of Web-based solutions for
companies securing their markets on the Web. Robert has also
contributed hundreds of articles and study guides to Web sites
and organizations worldwide, including Cramsession.com. He just
finished co-authoring titles on Windows XP Pro and BizTalk Server
2000.