One of the major concerns most companies face is the risk of viral intrusion on their computing infrastructure. While having dedicated antivirus software is fine for individual machines, the material and resource costs are immense when the same technique is applied to virtual systems. Fortunately, there is an answer in the form of agentless security.
Virtual Problems
Many people believe that the best form of security is to have an antivirus program loaded onto each and every machine. While this is a good method for keeping individual devices secure, these agent-based systems are resource intensive. For a single machine undergoing antivirus maintenance on a sporadic basis, major resource drains aren’t much of a problem.
In contrast to individual platforms, a virtual system uses a host network to simulate operations of a standalone pc over a variety of environments. Mimicking dedicated devices dramatically reduces the need for expensive individual platforms while simultaneously allowing remote machines to operate a wide variety of software. These virtual machines can even run different operating systems like Linux in such an environment.
It is this division of memory, storage and processing power that make agent-based systems increasingly detrimental to virtual setups. Because they share network resources, all environments are affected when there is a significant drain. While boosting system resources by adding expensive RAM and CPU power to the network would solve this problem in a roundabout way, there is a less cost-intensive answer.
Real-Life Solutions
The key to virtual system safety is agentless antivirus. While agent-based systems use each virtual environment to host and operate antiviral software, agentless programs offload work onto a dedicated virtual system. This localization of resource labor can avoid massive spikes in resource usage.
Called an AV storm, these instances occur when multiple virtual machines attempt to perform an intensive virus scan at the same time. Instead of each environment running antivirus programs, the physical network host is scanned all at once. Avoiding AV spikes isn’t the only benefit to agentless antivirus. Other advantages include:
- Consistent Resouce Availability: A local host takes care of antiviral searches leaving more RAM, CPU and storage free for individual environments.
- Lowered Overall Virtual System Costs: Since resource demand is lowered, the initial cost of creating a virtual environment is much less.
- Easier Security Management: Having localized agentless antivirus means only one instance of security over multiple machines versus monitoring multiple devices continually.
By utilizing an agentless antiviral setup, businesses can keep costs down while maintaining comprehensive security over their entire internal network.
Giving Your Business Agency
When your network is bogged down with agent-based antivirus, business suffers. At Super Source GmbH, we understand the need for comprehensive antivirus solutions that work with your current setup. Contact us to get started on incorporating agentless antivirus solutions to your network issues today.