Content

Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition

This suite provides protection against spyware and viruses. For complete protection, Enterprise Edition also tackles spam and provides content filtering.

However, Corporate Edition is designed for a predominantly Windows environment – although NetWare support is available for some of the modules. Platform support also looks set to be improved even further, with a newer version soon available with support for Red Hat Enterprise, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server and Novell Linux.

To begin, we installed the System Center management software on our central server (a Pentium III machine running Windows 2003). The System Center management console is a straightforward, two-pane Windows Explorer-style affair.

Having unlocked our server group and assigned our machine as the primary server, we were ready to start pushing client software out to our network nodes. This is a simple enough process where you select the clients onto which you wish to load the software from a network map via the management console.

Once done, all the clients that we selected to install the remote software were imported into the System Center management console, where any number of tasks can be carried out. From here it is possible to schedule scans (all the usual flexibility is provided for), update schedules and carry out all the other tasks you would expect.

While the management console is certainly thorough, it can also be a little confusing and laborious to use. Access to LiveUpdate, quarantine sections, reporting and logging, and tamper protection options are all easily found.

In fact, one of the advantages of opting for Symantec software is its scalability. Symantec itself also has the scale to ensure rapid response to new threats through its Anti-Virus Research Center.

However, for the largest and most secure implementations, it would be necessary to upgrade to Enterprise Edition, as protection to the gateway is only provided with this version.

Product title
Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition
Product info
Name: Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition Description: Price: $37 per user for 1,000 users
Strength
A fully featured, very scalable and very capable anti-virus solution.
Weakness
No gateway protection unless you upgrade to Enterprise Edition.
Verdict
Although the System Center can at times appear complex, Symantec has put together a very competent product.

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