Silicon Shecky

It is being reported that Symantec is coming out with a new SMB version of Endpoint Protection. Pardon me if I don’t start jumping for joy.

I do install a lot of Symantec for clients, and I have dealt with their current Endpoint SMB solution. It does work, but at a very high cost. The management system in it is anything but intuitive, adding desktops to the management console and managing them through the console is not simple. The database for the Management system continuously grows to the point where I have had to make sure it is installed only on a data drive, and not to install the Endpoint Manager on an OS partition.

Other odd things I’ve run across is the way it comes out of the box, you need to go in and tell it not to scan your backup drive, especially if it is an SSD drive. I’ve had many issues with Symantec’s own BackupExec because the drive is in use due to Endpoint scanning it all. Then there is the firewall and the way on a server it starts blocking ports that you tell it to leave open. Some software packages do use special ports for legitimate communication purposes. As far as support goes, don’t get me started on the poor support resources Symantec has for all of its products.

Since Endpoint now does allow back reving to the older 10.2 AV solution, I tend to put 10.2 on because it causes less problems.  Less overhead, easier to manage, and it just works.

I know I’ll wind up having to deal with the new version, I just hope that the upcoming beta testing is open so I can place it on my test box and see whether it is worth it, or should I start recommending a different SMB solution. I know that my clients need the protection one way or another.

This week the big RSA Security Conference is going on in San Francisco. For those that don’t know what it is I suggest taking a look a the conference website to get more info overall.

There have been some interesting Keynote addresses that I plan on checking out online when I have time, but in the spirit of time I came across an interesting announcement from Symantec.

Symantec has acquired Security Vendor MI5, and this could be both good and bad. MI5 makes appliances that do some of the things that say a Barracuda appliance does, Web Security and the like. Symantec on the other hand, was once one of the best AV companies out there. I say once, because I know a lot of people had gotten turned off by their more recent offerings.

Now I am not going to bash Symantec’s AV stuff, especially considering that with their new CEO, they seem to be working on making their product better. I’m hearing reports that the new versions of their AV and Endpoint products are less resource intense, and work much better. Plus they are bringing back the Norton Utility line to where it should have always been.

What has me worried about them acquiring MI5 and assimilating it, is what has happened with BackupExec. When Symantec bought Veritas and got its hands on BE, it seemed like it could be a good thing. Unfortunately, BE has basically stagnated under Symantec’s rule, the online support for the latest versions is almost non-existent, and they have yet to make it to handle removable SSD (solid state drives) in an easy fashion. I hope to god that they don’t do the same sort of thing with MI5.