VIPRE Enterprise v3.1 is an anti-virus and anti-spyware product that is managed from a central console. VIPRE Enterprise (VPE) is an enterprise application that is installed on a server and referred to as the VPE server. The Admin Server is the central management interface for VPE. The VPE server deploys agents onto network workstations. Administrators use the policy-based, centrally-managed admin console to manage and remove viruses and a broad range of malware from the network. Agents are deployed to desktop, laptop and servers to provide constant real-time scanning protection against all malware threats. Configuration of agents, the component that resides on endpoint machines, is performed at the console. Agents send report information back to the console, where it is entered into the reporting database. Additionally, system events are logged and reported to the console.
The server load was fully automated and was easy to perform. Once loaded, the console application is launched and the VPE is configured. Log-on to the console can be integrated with Windows login credentials. Configuration is completed through several windows of data entry. Once complete, we moved on to adding policies. Agent deployment has several options, including Active Directory (AD) integration. We could auto-deploy agents at defined intervals based on AD information of IP range monitoring. The user interface was easy to navigate and the data was very well presented. We had the ability to configure the dashboard to display the items we wanted to focus on.
Even though we did not test catch rates, we were very impressed with the approach that this solution took to scanning for malware. Using traditional means, such as signature detection and heuristics, VIPRE includes a behavioral analysis engine for an additional level of scanning capability. We also liked the pre-boot rootkit scan capability that is part of VIPRE's FirstScan.
There are only a handful of basic reports available, but we did have the ability to edit the report templates and create our own reports. Exports were also supported to a variety of file formats. In addition, logging is tunable. Email integration is included for alerting, but didn't appear to be easily tunable.