What antivirus software do you recommend for Win2003 Server?

On second thought, also recommend one for WinXP, please.

if you're looking for one that you have to pay for, Kaspersky. nod32 is also nice as well. if you're looking for a free firewall and have a really powerful system(lots of memory, processor power, etc...), then get Avast!. otherwise, AVG

... uhhh, okay, you managed to rattle off 4 antiviruses in one post.

Let's say that money is no problem (problem is no money... ), no, but seriously, it's okay if we have to pay.

System has resources pouring out its nose, e.g. dual Opteron, internal 2x80GB RAID 1, external 240GB RAID 5 array, 4 GB of RAM.

So, should I use Kaspersky or Avast! ?

Any experience with them in a server setting?

i don't have a server and i probably won't have one soon so i can't say. as for an anti-virus, i would prefer Kaspersky over avast!. when i used it on my p4 2.6ghz and 512MB memory computer, it gave me an extremely slow startup time. it also, sometimes, froze the comp while loading. and IMO, it's a bit too bloated(looks a bit like a media player than an anti-virus. that's why i've been using AVG up to now.

as for the anti-virus, Kaspersky for sure. however, i've been hearing many good things about nod32.

Remember, you need an AV that 100% supports Win2003 Server...

That's the crux of the matter, friends. So, which ones do?

I guess you want AV for filesharing function of a server, these products do support WS03:

Kaspersky Anti-Virus For Windows File Server (also x64)
Dr.Web for Windows servers

Our staff has been reasonably happy with TrendMicro antivirus for workstations and servers. I have had no issues with it from the desktop side of things. It just works.

Edit:

Link to review:

CNET AV review

I just want to add that, those "free for personal use" anti-virus may not install on Windows Server 2003. I had experiecne that some explicitly stop during installation, telling you that Windows servers are not supported.

So as far as I know, for anti-virus on servers, you can only pay for "server editions".

Yes, I am aware of that.

It's only that previously we've been using Symantec Anti-Virus Corporate Edition, and now as the license runs out we'd prefer to not use it anymore... we want a clean start with our installation of Windows Server 2003.

I've just installed a trial of Kaspersky's for Server... strange, it doesn't seem to work. The service runs... but there is no interface whatsoever to interact with it. Nada. Zilch. What the... ??

Prior to that I installed a trial of BitDefender 10 for Server... ... one of the worst blunder. It slooooooows down the server something mighty... and even manage to completely fill the C: drive!!! ... out it went.

Currently trying the trial version of F-Secure for Server... seems nice so far, got an interface, albeit *very* simple compared to BitDefender's (or even SAVCE for that matter), doesn't slow down the system or filling it up with strange files... although it slows down services startup significantly (e.g. the DHCP server is not active until 3-5 minutes after startup... without F-Secure, it starts within 1-2 minutes after startup).

Note: Of course, when we settle on something satisfactory after all these trials, we will go buy the full-fledged version.

So, keep posting those AV-for-servers, folks!

Would you tell me why you prefer not to use it? Because of cost?

As far as I know, the SAV Corp Editions are already not-that-bad server AVs. It does not have flashy UI, not very high on system resources, and not intrusive to users. Server administration, client rollout, etc, are quite simple. Only the process of updating the program through patching is a little bit complicated.


Haven't actually tried it, but I heard that Kaspersky is quite heavy on system resources, even if you do not load the UI. However its scanning capability is always at the top of the line.

No comments on BitDefender. Heard of both good and bad comments of it.


No comments on F-Secure too. I only know that the scanning engine behind F-Secure is F-Prot, which has a very long nice track record on scanning.


You may also want to try McAfee and NOD32.

Whenever the scheduled scan kicks in, the server slows down to a crawl. Plus the scanning engine seems to be beaten by Avast. The scenario was: SAVCE got deployed to all workstation using push install, updated regularly/automatically via Internet... a scan on a workstation shows all clear. But there are fishy stuff going on. So we uninstall SAVCE and install Avast Professional, and ... during boot-up scan Avast caught 2 viruses.

Noted. Thanks. I do recommend against BitDefender -- if the trial version is any indication.

Yes, that's what prompted me to try F-Secure.

Uh, not McAfee. We had bad, *real*bad* experience with McAfee, re: licensing.

I'm trying do download NOD32 as of now...

Vote for NOD32. I'm running it on Win2k3 and (ancient?) Athlon XP 1700+, and don't feel any impact on speed. No bloat. Also, it's among the best when it comes to detection.

I personally can recommend Avast!, there is even a free version.

I've been using it for years now, and I've caught things eventually which evaded other scanners. Norton in particular seems pretty unable to catch any modern virus, but YMMV. Updates automatically, non-obtrusively, downloads tiny files generally, is robust (didn't crash yet, not even once, unlike Norton)... I'm very impressed by Avast! after trying Norton and NOD32. NOD32 isn't bad actually, but it slowed down my system for some reason.

Status update:

- Currently testing F-Secure for Servers.
- Just downloaded Avast! for Server... not yet installed.
- Went to NOD32's site... got confused. Which one(s) to download? Which one(s) to install first?

Already tested:

- BitDefender 10 for Server - Extremely slow, fills up C: for some unknown reason.
- Kaspersky - Hard to administer.
- Symantec AV CE - Slows down server significantly when scheduled scan kicks in. Not quite sensitive.

Well...there are two choices (excluding localised versions for different languages). So you only have to answer yourself do you need "NOD32’s Enterprise Edition was designed for businesses of any size that require central management, file and/or email server solutions"...

There is also DrWeb AV (http://www.drweb.com), which is popular in my country and considered to be faster than Kaspersky. Also supports various services and operating systems.