OVERVIEW
NOD32 (pronounced:
en-oh-dee-32) is powerful anti-Virus software. It comes in two basic forms --
"Remote Administrator" and "Standard." The actual anti-virus, spyware and malware scanners are identical.
This review will focus on the "Remote Administrator" version that enables you to monitor the status of every installation of the anti-virus program on every computer on your network.
Here's our premise: Can a user with a large home network for the family benefit from using an anti-Virus solution that was really meant for business?
The "Standard" version will get its program or virus definition updates directly from ESET's servers on the internet.
The "Remote Administrator" version allows you to set up a server that gets the updates from ESET and then provides them to all of your clients on your network (creates a "mirror" of the ESET updates.)
It also includes a Remote Administration Console that enables you to install new clients, update remotely, trigger full disk scans, view log files and change configurations remotely.
The Administrator version of
NOD32 costs around $260 and includes software for 1 server and 5 clients. An additional year of updates would cost around $155 or $31.50 for each client.
If you're not in the market for that many clients, read on and learn about discounted "family packs" for two or more users.
Even without paying almost double for the Enterprise version,
NOD32 gives you the option of notifying someone
...probably YOU!...by e-mail when 1 of the computers on the LAN encounters a virus, trojan or other "incident."
This is important. It can tip you off to users who are downloading games, music or files from risky sources on the internet.
Make no mistake, the "Remote Administrator" version is designed for networks with hundreds of workstations.
But we were curious to see whether it would be a good solution for our smaller, home network.
THE ANTI-VIRUS MERRY-GO-ROUND
Our home network has steadily expanded over the years. Laptops are now
required for some of our children in school. Demand for virus protection has never been greater as more family members are visiting more sites, playing and downloading music and games and exchanging e-mail with an ever-growing number of people.
In the past, we've bought or built new machines and most came with a free trial of one Anti-Virus product or another. We added a home network. We added a print, file and music server. We added wireless networking, too.
Usually, we bought
Norton Anti-Virus and, later,
Norton Internet Security for our home computers.
Gradually, it became a fact that it was both inconvenient and expensive to keep everything properly upgraded.
One
Norton Internet Security subscription expired in June, another in October. A third had extended downloads. Each program would entail a separate purchase, usually via the internet. We had various versions of the software because, often, we renewed only the virus definitions, not the software version.
"Dad, my computer says my Anti-Virus program is expiring!"
Sometimes it was true. Sometimes it wasn't. Subscriptions got "lost." Symantec had some of our subscriptions online, others seemed to be missing. We liked Norton, though we dreaded any visit to the maze called "Knowledgebase" on the Support site.
We switched to
NOD32 because we've found it to be excellent protection that is reasonably priced and, moreover, better designed for our needs.
REQUIREMENTS
ESET NOD32 anti-virus will run on just about anything but a MAC. Windows, Linux, Unix, Novell, MS DOS, Microsoft Exchange Server, Lotus Domino and other mail servers are all supported.
The
"Administrator" version requires purchase of a Corporate/Multi-User license (5 clients, minimum.) All licenses are cross-platform, that is if you buy five you can get three for Windows and two for Linux.
For the Administrator version, you should have a computer server on your home network that runs 24/7. Ours is really just another computer running Windows XP Professional...it's a rather old PIII/600MHz.
The Server will run on any Windows NT system (NT, XP, 2000) You can also run it on a 9x Windows system by enabling shares and installing Personal Web Server. Get details of that here:
http://www.codefixer.com/tutorials/installation.asp
The
Remote Administration Console will run on any Windows system.
WHO MAKES NOD32?
ESET software originated in Bratislava, Slovakia. It has since moved to its new headquarters in San Diego, California. It still has a significant presence in Europe and provides its NOD32 Anti-Virus product in English, German, French, Polish, Czech, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian, Hungarian, Dutch and Chinese!
It has earned a reputation for working swiftly and quietly on large networks and developed relationships with companies like Dell, Microsoft and Canon. For two consecutive years, Eset has been listed on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500.
They're good at relatively high detection rates, fast scanning and low memory usage. When it comes to detection "in the wild" they're most impressive.
No, you never probably never heard of them. But they now have a pretty extensive group of distributors and the product can be licensed and download easily on the internet.
The N-O-D in it's name is an acronym that literally translates as "Hospital on the Edge of a Disc." It is designed to provide relief when a trojan or virus makes your systems sick.
KEY ADVANTAGES
Tight code, Fast Scans, Advanced Heuristics - Written in Assembly code,
NOD32 occupies less hard disk space, uses much less memory, scans faster and is capable of finding viruses "in the wild." That's when there's no "definition file" to tell the program what to look for when searching out viruses. Heuristics "senses" when something's wrong with a file using several techniques.
NOD32 has an unprecedented 31 "100%" awards from
Virus Bulletin (
www.virusbulletin.com)
E-Mail Notification of Alerts - Your son gets another virus.
NOD32 doesn't just stop it, delete it and move on.
It sends YOU an email and tells you one of the computers on your home network got a virus or trojan. This is a feature is supported on all versions of
NOD32.
Fast, Frequent Updates - ESET seems to update their definition files AT LEAST once a day, including weekends. As often as not, we have seen them update twice a day.
Multi-User "Family Packs" - Licenses for non-commercial home use (not Administrator version) that cost as little as $17 when buying 2 years' worth of licenses for 5 computers.
Virus-definition PLUS Software Upgrades - It was driving us nuts that we could extend our access to virus definitions for one price, but had to pay more if we wanted the latest version of the software.
NOD32 renewals include BOTH.
THE NEGATIVE SIDE
NOD32 isn't just powerful, it's
flexible.
But its menu-driven, multi-module configuration can be daunting, to say the least. While we found that the defaults will work fine, wading through the layers of menus to configure
NOD32 to its fullest extent is not for the faint-of-heart.
If you have problems playing audio streams over the Internet, or some programs don't work as expected,
NOD32 has a way to increase "compatibility."
With its multiple modules, each with their own settings and ability to create your own "Profiles" to invoke different settings among dozens and dozens of choices,
NOD32 goes to the head of the class with its raw power.
But it also goes straight over the heads of a lot of home users.
Responding to that,
ESET has published an extensive set of
Frequently Asked Questions on its web site that should answer the vast majority of configuration questions.
http://www.nod32.com/support/faq.htm
ESET engineers promised that more updates and extensive installation/user guides for the Aministrator version are coming.
NOD32 ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE INSTALLATION
Whether you're using the "Enterprise/Administrator" or "Standard" version, you're putting the basic Anti-Virus program on all of your computers.
Obviously, you have to uninstall your other Anti-Virus programs. I make note of the obvious because even though we thought we had taken Norton Internet Security off one of our machines, it mysteriously remained through the
NOD32 install.
Installation was smooth and simple. You are given three choices from the outset: Typical, Medium and Expert.
If you have Outlook installed but don't have it designated as the "Default" mail client, you'll get an error message. You can ignore it and disable that later.
NOTE: ESET currently has a new beta in testing. Version 2.5 offers wider compatibility with Microsoft Outlook versions in a module called
EMON. If you are not using Outlook you can disable that module and let an improved
IMON module check all incoming and outgoing e-mail. The current version 2.12 (and the new beta) work fine with my Mozilla Thunderbird mail clients.
THE NOD32 CONTROL CENTER
NOD32 puts a green and white icon in your system tray. Clicking on that brings up the Control Center where you can adjust your settings and perform tasks like scanning.
As noted above, one of the criticisms we've seen of NOD32 is that its detailed configuration and scheduling is only fit for 'expert' users. We think the defaults work fine for most installations.
The only items we really had to set were how often we wanted it to do a full system scan and who we wanted to get an e-mail if the program dealt with a virus, trojan or worm.
AMON - Anti-Virus Monitor - Shows you the number of files scanned, infected and cleaned.
Setup button adjusts the Anti-Virus monitoring which includes
Detection options like whether to scan files as they are Opened, Executed or Created.
You can tell the module to scan the boot sector both on access and shutdown. The defaults in
AMON set the stage for both Signature and Heuristic scanning. If a virus is detected, you can choose to halt access and display an alert, prohibit access or clean automatically.
You can also choose whether the user of that particular computer will even have a choice how to deal with a suspected virus. Perhaps you limit them to only being able to Clean or Delete it.
You can also designate whether the user can manually stop the virus protection.
"Dad, the computer kept saying my game had a virus so I just stopped that program and it installed FINE!"
EMON This module is only available in the current beta version 2.5 and is designed for various flavors of the Outlook e-mail program from Microsoft. Since we don't use Outlook, we have simply disabled this module.
IMON - Internet Monitor - While AMON keeps watch on your system, diskettes and the like, this module is really focused on your
E-Mail and Internet traffic.
IMON works on the Winsock level and there's an option to adjust compatibility with applications like browsers, e-mail or media players.
DMON - Document Monitor - Provides protection from macro viruses in MS Office, MS Explorer 5.0 and higher. This is important, but rather limited in that it requires applications that support the MS Antivirus API interface. Office 2000 and onwards fit in perfectly.
NOD32 - Scan Trigger - Here are options to manually scan disk drives either locally or on the network, scan diskettes or perform what's called "In-depth analysis." The latter is a longer scan of target drives on the local machine or on the network. You must name all the drives/directories on the network you want to scan, but this is a nice feature.
Logs and System Tools
Quarantine - View the Files that have been Safely Isolated - A straightforward look at the directory where
NOD32 has quarantined suspect files. Default folder is C:\Program Files\Eset\infected
Scheduler/Planner - Set times to check for new Virus Definitions - The default is every hour.
NOD32 has multiple virus definition updates published most days.
Information - Basic System and NOD32 version Information - Quick reference to your software versions as well as CPU, Memory, and Windows OS information.
NOD32 System Setup - A Tabbed Dialogue Box of System Settings - You get many options that control how
NOD32 does its job, including:
General - Whether you want graphics enabled and the splash screen on startup
Nofifications - Send notifications of incidents via e-mail (SMTP) and/or via LAN (using Microsoft Messaging Service) This is very useful for the person in charge of the home network to know what's going on with every computer hooked up to the network.
Log Maintenance - Specify automatic deletion of logs of the program to prevent very large logs.
Advanced - Automatically close notification windows after xxx seconds. The default is 300.
Remote Administration - Specify a Remote Administration Server, if you have one.
This last feature is what ties the "Standard" version of the program to the "Enterprise" edition.
PERFORMANCE
This is fast. Very fast. If you have been finding your high-priced, hyper-threaded, RAM-charged computer slowing down under the weight of an anti-Virus program,
download a free 30-day trial of NOD32.
This program scans hard drives faster than any other we have used.
The scan engines are written in Assembly code which is much faster than higher-level languages like C++.
NOD32 doesn't hang you up. Our old anti-virus program would drive us nuts. We would shut down our computer as we rushed out the door. We would come back 10 hours later to find it was still running, with the error message: ccApp refuses to close! And
NOD32 is scanning on every bootup and shutdown.
According to VirusBulletin.com,
ESET NOD32 has an impressive record of 100% interception of 'in the wild' viruses. Better than Norton. Much better than McAfee. That doesn't mean either of those programs are bad, but you can expect excellent performance on the virus-fighting front from NOD32. ESET has won an impressive 31 100% awards. (see
http://www.virusbulletin.com)
Other reviews we have read in PC Magazines give a good, but less glowing recommendation. Some are old reviews. The new version 2.5, currently in beta, makes significant improvements in ease-of-use and also adds scanning for Adware, Spyware etc.
THE REMOTE ADMINISTRATOR CONSOLE
This is only available in the
Administrator/Enterprise version. It is both powerful and convenient.
Designed for networks with hundreds of clients and perhaps multiple servers, it is also a great tool in a home networking environment. It gives you an "up close and personal" view of each and every one of the computers on your home network.
The main computer used by the person who will monitor the anti-virus software on your home network installs what is called the R-A-C on their Windows (any flavor) computer.
The console allows you to "see" the server and all the clients on the network in real time. It is
not loaded on the server itself.
This computer does NOT have to be running 24/7. Just boot up and load the
NOD32 Remote Administrator Console. What you'll get is a thorough look at your network clients AV protection.
What version of the Virus Definitions are running on each computer? What version of the software? Did any of the clients have a problem updating from the "mirror" on the server?
This is where you can view all alerts issues to all computers for viruses found. Which computer user is getting more than his share of viruses? How long has it been since that user did a full system scan?
More than just a monitor, the Remote Administrator Console enables you to force updates, do "on-demand" scans of client hard disks, or update their configuration files...all remotely.
You can generate reports based on the data being monitored.
Whether or not you decide to pay for
NOD32'S Admininistrator/Enterprise version will depend on how useful you find this feature. We found it very useful, indeed. And saved a lot of time and effort that would otherwise be spent check out each and every system without ever having to leave your own desktop.
SUPPORT
ESET provides a complete list of manuals for all of the products...in numerous languages. They also have, as noted above, a "Frequently Asked Questions" page for the products.
Still, working with the Administrator version posed some challenges. We set up and installed our own home network and have been working with computers for many years.
That's not the same thing as being a qualified Network Administrator.
We found ourselves having some basic problems. These were password/management/permission issues related to the network itself, not the anti-virus software.
But support was swift. The
Wilders Security Forums enable you to post your questions about NOD32 Administrator (or the Standard version) and you can expect a speedy response. In addition, you can get E-mail support at
ESET's website.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com
http://www.nod32.com/support/supreq_us.htm
Users of
ESET NOD32 are enthusiastic about helping newcomers understand how to use the product.
Questions posted on the forums got responses within
minutes in most cases.
After posting a query on that forum, one of the distributors of
NOD32 even got with us on Windows Messenger and "talked" us through our problems in a matter of minutes. Stephen Elek of NOD32-AV.com was as patient as he was helpful in the process. We're impressed.
CONCLUSION
Using the "Administrator" version of
ESET NOD32 to monitor a home network of 5 computers and a server is a solid, unified approach to taking control of your network's anti-Virus security. We're very happy with the way we can constantly monitor all computers from the
Remote Administrator Console.
We're also happy that we can renew all the licenses at once. It's easier and cheaper.
We like the fact our subscriptions mean we get more than just virus definition updates for another year, we get all the latest program software, too.
But cost must be a consideration. Buying "Family Packs" of
ESET NOD32 "standard" software would be much cheaper.
We could still rely on the E-mail warnings being sent to the person in charge of our home network when one of the machines was hit with a virus. Paying around $17 a year for renewals of each license is very reasonable.
Whether you calculate it's worth using the "Administrator" version or not is your call. We think it's worth it. We wish there were a "Home Administrator" version that scaled back the number of clients in exchange for a lower price.
But the important thing is that
ESET NOD32 is an effective way of protecting your home network (or office!) from the endless (and ever-changing) threats out there. Its tight code, raw speed and advanced heuristics mean we're getting that protection without paying a heavy price in overhead on our machines.
We're absolutely convinced it outperforms the major AV software packages we've been using both in protection and in leaving more resources available for our applications.
Don't take our word for it. Go out and get a free 30-day trial of NOD32 and decide for yourself.
http://www.nod32.com
http://www.softwaresecuritysolutions.com
http://www.nod32-AV.com
نوشته شده توسط jafari1
قوانین ایجاد تاپیک در تالار
پاسخ با نقل قول