Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit and WHS

bobbyinpa · 17 Oct 2009

I plan to install Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit this weekend. I also have a HP EX 495 WHS. I currently use Noton Internet Security 2010 but of course Norton has nothing for the WHS. I have used WSE and I liked it, but again nothing available for the WHS. I do not want to use Avast as I see they have problems at the testing sites I have visited, so I need some assistance on how to protect my WHS. I have no issue paying for good software, nor do I have a problem of using WSE.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or links to solve my issue.

moadip · 17 Oct 2009

i had WHS on VMWARE and on a RIG both where protected by eset nod 32 you can buy it for about 30$ or so it works very very good with the WHS and has a very small footprint. just stick with the newest version.

kegobeer · 17 Oct 2009

I don't run any anti-virus on my WHS. My clients run NOD32 or Microsoft Security Essentials. If I access my WHS from outside my home network, that machine also has anti-virus software on it. Since WHS is a server, and you aren't going to be surfing the internet with your server, it's really unnecessary to run anti-virus on it.

BeechV35Pilot · 17 Oct 2009

kegobeer said:

I don't run any anti-virus on my WHS. My clients run NOD32 or Microsoft Security Essentials. If I access my WHS from outside my home network, that machine also has anti-virus software on it. Since WHS is a server, and you aren't going to be surfing the internet with your server, it's really unnecessary to run anti-virus on it.

I have an HP EX490 and I agree with the above. If all the client computers are protected, the risk of something infecting WHS is quite low. I, too, run NOD32 on all my client computers.

zone23 · 17 Oct 2009

I use Avast on my WHS I like how it integrates into the console and will notify me if one of my other pcs gets a virus. Example the wife accidentally click something she shouldn't have and WHS immediately notified me. Great software and you can get a home package fairly cheap. You can upgrade all pc keys right from the console, run scans, and see what version of the software is on each pc. I don't generally buy what websites say about antivirus software every package has a weakness, avast has low resources. For every bad report there's a good one. I would or did download the trial and see if its for you.

bobbyinpa · 17 Oct 2009

Thanks for the replies, I truly appreciate your assistance.

bobtran · 17 Oct 2009

I have been running Avast for WHS on my WHS for almost 3 years and there here has never been an issue ever. I also use Avast x.x Home on my entire network of windows PC's (4 -6) for almost 3 years now and again no infections on the machines although they have detected viruses during web surfing.

Any system can be compromised through the actions of the user but Avast has consistantly rated very high in AV testing so I'm not sure what issues you are writing about when you say they "have problems at the testing sites I have visited".

Due to the issue of restore points being corrupted by virus's, that's been in the blogs lately, I would recommend running AV on your server. You can probably get away without but the cost is minimal to ensure the integrity of your files, folders, and backups (After all....aren't these backups what you will depend on to restore your system if you DO get a virus or hard drive failure).

The decision is definitely yours however and I wish you luck with whatever route you choose to go.

pparks1 · 18 Oct 2009

kegobeer said:

I don't run any anti-virus on my WHS. My clients run NOD32 or Microsoft Security Essentials. If I access my WHS from outside my home network, that machine also has anti-virus software on it. Since WHS is a server, and you aren't going to be surfing the internet with your server, it's really unnecessary to run anti-virus on it.

I would agree with this as well. I've almost never had any type of virus problem on my home network and with all of my other PC's protected and those PC's being the gateway to all files going onto my server...I don't really see a need to spend more money.

zone23 · 18 Oct 2009

The hole AV software on a server is really up to the user, I say why not what does it hurt? The Avast family pack was 100 bucks and includes licenses for 5 pcs and 1 server. I will say this on our servers at work we use AV software. With the server being open to the web all the time I would say absolutely run an AV. I get hits on my server from all over the world everyday. I use this software to analyze the data. When I see someone from china hitting my server all day long i'm glad I have AV software. Of course when I see this kind of activity I block them with my firewall.

here's the program I use the free version

Free Web Analytics and Website Statistics - Deep Log Analyzer Software

here's how to set it up

How To: Analyze Website Log Files From Your WHS | We Got Served - Windows Home Server & Your Digital Home

I would suggest looking at the traffic on your server then decide if you need protection. I would say after you see the data you will want it.

kegobeer · 18 Oct 2009

zone23 said:

The hole AV software on a server is really up to the user, I say why not what does it hurt? The Avast family pack was 100 bucks and includes licenses for 5 pcs and 1 server. I will say this on our servers at work we use AV software. With the server being open to the web all the time I would say absolutely run an AV. I get hits on my server from all over the world everyday. I use this software to analyze the data. When I see someone from china hitting my server all day long i'm glad I have AV software. Of course when I see this kind of activity I block them with my firewall.

here's the program I use the free version

Free Web Analytics and Website Statistics - Deep Log Analyzer Software

here's how to set it up

How To: Analyze Website Log Files From Your WHS | We Got Served - Windows Home Server & Your Digital Home

I would suggest looking at the traffic on your server then decide if you need protection. I would say after you see the data you will want it.

Although WHS is based on Server 2003, it is not the type of server you see in a work environment. It does not use Active Directory or any other network server tools, so it's really not fair to compare WHS to 2008 R2 or any other server.

For home users (the target audience of WHS), who don't use it to serve web pages or anything else outside the original scope of WHS, anti-virus really isn't needed. A hardware firewall should be preventing outside access, and any external access that is allowed should be going through the xxxx.homeserver.com website.

IMHO, if you are providing hosting, running a website, or anything else along those lines, you should be using a different box, and that one should be running the anti-virus and security applications. In the case that one decided to use WHS to stream multimedia to external clients, serve webpages, etc, then anti-virus should be installed.

Just to my cents.