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Wanted: Freeware (commercial use allowed) Anti-Virus Tool For Small LAN

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tinjaw:
I have created a small LAN of a half-dozen computer here at work whose purpose is to allow access to the un-filtered Internet. (Our standard issue government computers can't reach some sites our jobs require.)

I have already set up a Ubuntu 9.04 server to act as a NAT/gateway/firewall box, but I want to be able to install anti-virus software on each of the boxes, but...

I want to have a central way to manage all of the boxes so that individual boxes don't need to be attended to. I am thinking of something like the commercial products from Norton/Symantec for commercial LANs.

Anybody have an ideas where I might find something like this?

nite_monkey:
I don't really know your setup, or if money is an issue, but you could use a sonicwall. Though, it kind of conflicts with your ubuntu server. Sonicwalls have antivirus built into them, and if you try to download something that is infected, it will block access and alert you that the file is infected. Also, I don't know if it would be useful to you, but sonicwalls also have a content filter. I don't work for sonicwall, so this isn't a plug for them, but my brother is a reseller for them, so we have one at home.

Innuendo:
SonicWall? I don't know if you could suggest anything less like freeware if you tried. They are rather expensive & their content filter subscriptions aren't exactly cheap, either.

nite_monkey:
lol, yeah, thats why I said I don't know if money was an issue. on my desktop I just use avira, and I use an AV by microsoft on my laptop, so I can't really be of much help.

edit: and the post title did say commercial use allowed...

40hz:
If the sole purpose of the this network is to access the web, why not set the individual PCs up as thin clients connecting to your server? That way, you won't need to worry about the individual machines at all since AV and (everything else!) will be provided via the host machine.

Check out the Linux Terminal Server Project ( www.ltsp.org ) for more info:

The Linux Terminal Server Project adds thin-client support to Linux servers. LTSP is a flexible, cost effective solution that is empowering schools, businesses, and organizations all over the world to easily install and deploy desktop workstations. A growing number of Linux distributions include LTSP out-of-the-box.
--- End quote ---

Edubuntu can create an LTSP server for you if you do your installation from the alternate rather than the live CD. Hit F4 after you select your language. Then from the Modes menu select the LTSP option and it will walk you through it.

The Edubuntu folks have a nice 'cookbook' page for getting LTSP up and running under the Ubuntu family.

Link: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EdubuntuDocumentation/EdubuntuCookbook/ThinClient

Might be worth a look.

Luck! :Thmbsup:

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Note: AFAIK the only NIX AV software that allows for free commercial/business use is ClamAV - which is not the greatest.

For Windows machines (including Server 2003!) you can use the latest version of MS Windows Defender. It's getting good reviews. Independent preliminary tests indicate it provides acceptable levels of protection and compares favorably with some of the big names.

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