McAfee Total Protection for Endpoint is a host-based endpoint solution that protects laptops, desktops and server machines from various security threats. The solution is centrally managed from McAfee's ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) web-based server console. The server is typically installed on a Windows server backend system with varying support for different versions of Microsoft SQL Server. Currently, the solution does not contain agents for other client platforms other than Microsoft Windows.
Getting the management components of Total Protection up and running was easy and straightforward. The web-based administrative console has several useful dashboard components for outbreak information and noncompliance status updates. The solution also has options for distribution and load balancing through the placement of optional remote agent-handlers for larger or more complex network environments. It's worth noting that the solution also ships with protection support for Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino. However, our testing focused on the core operating system platform for desktops and servers.
Total Protection for Endpoint has an abundance of features that you would expect to see in an enterprise-class endpoint protection solution. The suite includes anti-virus, application blocking, desktop firewall, host IPS, web-browser protection and rogue system detection for alerting when systems are networked without the agent installed. Agent deployment is a breeze, although we did notice the push installation lacks a status indicator, which would be a nice feature.
Additionally, policy management of endpoint protection is very granular, but the screen could benefit from a bit more organization since they all reside on unique rows in the interface and require a few more clicks than we're used to. Even with these minor shortcomings, we were impressed with the low agent footprint and granular control the user has over the endpoint agents. The solution also integrates into third-party ticketing systems to help with remediation.
Although a help file is available via the server console, some areas of the documentation were lacking in explanation. Too, some of the core components mentioned in the solution were missing from the main help file entirely. We were shipped additional PDF files for these missing components.
Gold support is included with the purchase and includes 24/7/365 phone support, as well as online case management and McAfee's excellent customer portal. Additional support options are available.
