Content

Sophos Enterprise Manager

The Sophos corporate anti-virus system consists of EM (Enterprise Manager) Library version 1.1, which enables administrators to set up automatic updating of Sophos software applications, tools and virus signatures from the firm's website, and the SAVAdmin application, which is used to administer and manage network clients.

EM Library supports clients running a wide variety of operating systems including Windows NT/2000/XP and Server 2003, in addition to Windows 95, 98 and ME. It also works with non-Microsoft platforms, including NetWare, Mac OS X, Mac OS 8/9, Unix and Linux.

To load the Sophos anti-virus platform it is necessary to create a Central Installation Directory (CID). This acts as the common depository of Sophos files, from which the system is installed on to the server and client workstations. Whenever a system administrator updates the CID the changes will be automatically rolled out to authenticated network clients.

We began by installing the Sophos Anti-Virus (SAV) client on our Windows 2003 Server and one Windows XP workstation. From this point, installation can be automated using SAVAdmin. This tool searches the local network and details any clients or servers, highlighting any that have had SAV installed. Using this console to replicate an existing SAV deployment was simplicity itself: all we had to do was right click and copy an existing deployment and paste it to any other clients in the SAVAdmin window.

Administration is conducted through a console which, once the library has been deployed, connects at set times to the Sophos website to access the latest software versions. On completion, the updated software is placed in the CID from where it is transferred automatically. In very large enterprise networks, Sophos provides the option to deploy additional EM Libraries to scale the system.

Product title
Sophos Enterprise Manager
Product info
Name: Sophos Enterprise Manager (Anti-Virus management group test) Description: Price: $35 per user, for between 100 and 200 users (Enterprise Manager is included in the overall Sophos Anti-Virus product)
Strength
Solution with probably the best documentation of any similar product we have seen.
Weakness
The actual management and reporting functionality were not the most comprehensive under test.
Verdict
A good solution with support for multiple operating systems.

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