Server AV

solaradmin

1.Do you run AV on your servers? Please explain why or why not.

If you do is it a separate vendor from the AV running on your desktop?

aLTeReGo

This is a bit of a philosophical question. I would contend that the answer is "it depends". Depending upon what function the server is performing, who has access it the server, and what type of information is being stored on the server each play a role in determining if antivirus is appropriate for the server. File Servers are a perfect example of something I personally feel should have antivirus software installed. Some might argue that Real-Time Antivirus may not be necessary if client side antivirus is required on all endpoints. No one would argue that at a minimum, regularly scheduled antivirus scans of file servers is a generally good idea. I'm also a fan of application specific antivirus. Email antivirus gateways, Exchange Antivirus, and SharePoint specific antivirus are good examples of application specific antivirus solutions that help eliminate viruses that are obscured to common file based antivirus. Again, if you can guarantee that each and every endpoint has up-to-date antivirus then this may not be necessary, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

I generally prefer to have different server based antivirus from desktop antivirus if that's an option, though that tends to add additional overhead. The advantages being that what one vendor doesn't detect the other hopefully will. This helps to ensure there are no holes in your defenses.