Anti Virus for game server

Hi all. I am running game server with AVG 7 free edition install. Im going to replace AVG with other paid version antivirus. Im looking for good (in detection) and fast realtime monitoring antivirus. I dont mind how much memory the antivirus use as i believe i have enough memory install (DDR 4gb). My concern is the antivirus not effect my game server speed and latency. Any expert here who can give recommendation what antivirus for me to buy?

Sorry for my bad english.

 

Why would you need an AV on gaming server?

 

My game server box also running WWW server.
You mean i dont need antivirus?

 

if you feel the need for AV I'd recommend NOD32 as it is low drag and high performance. If you are happy with free AV (which should be plenty) then AntiVir should work quite nicely (I use it on my media server).

It is possible that a worm could spread through a game server exploit but I am unaware of one doing so. Does anyone know if this has happened?

Fairy

 

*Because it's on a public IP address with at least one exposed port, and we don't know what sort of firewall it's behind, what services are running, if it's behind any NAT or ACLs, etc etc
*Because we don't know what kind of network it's also on...but there "might" be other PCs..possibly themselves with public IP address...and if this home user, or co-lo data center, didn't VLAN each co-lo server..well...lots of potential problems here.

I used to build and manage quite a few public gaming servers...hosted in data centers of fat bandwidth.
Some tips:
*First...I don't recommend running IIS on a gaming server. Security, and performance reasons
*You're using Windows Server I hope? Not a desktop OS? Desktop OS's are not designed for many concurrent connections...server OS's are. If you're going to host for more than 20, 50, 75, 100 or more concurrent players...a Server OS will perform MUCH better.
*Keep up to date with your windows updates
*Server grade network cards..such as a 3COM 990svr series, or Intel Pro Server...similar reasons to above...true server grade NICs perform MUCH better under the load of many concurrent connections....compared to traditional desktop grade NICs.
*SCSI drives...low CPU impact. Yes transfer rates of ATA and SATA have caught up with SCSI, but even with recent TCQ of SATA..nothing compares to SCSI when it deals with low CPU utilization and not affecting other services when the hard drive is working (such as changing levels/maps, bringing in new players,etc)
*Lean your operating system..shut down services that are not needed. Blackviper has a decent list to refer to. You can really improve the "snappiness" of the system by shutting many services which you will not need..and drop the memory consumption of your operating system (I used to bring it down to about 70 megs for Windows Server). You don't want networking services running..for example (Server/Workstation), or netbios. Plus this will unbind those services from your NIC..you certainly don't want server/workstation services running on the NIC of a box sitting on a public IP address.
*Secure the heck out of your server...good Admin password.
*Bandwidth, real bandwidth, and if you're behind a router..a "home grade" router won't perform well under many concurrent connections..get it behind a more business grade router with a faster CPU and more RAM.

Anyways..to the antivirus question...in the past, I used to run Symantec Corporate Edition. This was back in the days of version 7...8..and 9. Much as we all joke about Symantec being a PIG of an antivirus..it's true of their home products, but back then..their Corporate Edition was quite light. Since version 10 came out..I won't touch it with a 10 foot pole...but since version 9 came out...I've been using NOD32 for all my stuff anways.

Exclude your game server directory, and pagefile.sys, from the real time file protection. That's all I did.

This was usually on dual processor servers that I built...going back to the Quake 2 days...and Unreal Tournament (I built one for a large UT clan..that made it to the NGStats Top 20 servers in the world for over a year list), and quite a few Battlefield servers. The most recent Battlefield server I had...I was running 3x instances of Battlefield on it (42, DC, and Vietnam)..it used to pump about 10 solid megs/s of bandwidth at peak hours at night..she was sitting on a 20 meg slice of OC-3).

 

I'll 2nd that advice !
I have a client who also have a Game server and he runs NOD32 on both the server and the ^workstations^ . High speed and small footprint = faster games and enjoyment => NOD32 !

 

@YeOldeStonecat, i can see there are few god tips from your post.
Im behind the router, and i disable all unneeded services base on Blackviper.
I dont use IIS for my web server, im using Uniform server which is very light and secure for WWW.
For my software firewall im using Jetico and Blackice and do far so good.
I will give a try to NOD32 and see how it will perform at my server.
Thanks for all the comment.

 

try kav on your server it should be faster at scanning because of its scan changed and new files only

 

Thanks for the great post YeOldeStonecat.

Many wanting to set up a game server will appreciate the advice.

 

I didn't run software firewalls. I tried a server grade one (when I ran a server naked..no router)...ran much better without it. Assuming your server has been behind a NAT box its whole time...and you only open/forwarded the bare minimum ports necessary to run what services you wish to be public (IE game ports, gamespy heartbeat ports, remote admin ports, etc)...you'll get quite a bit more snap back into it. You're not doing (well..hopefully not) higher risk things with your server such as websurfing, running e-mail clients, or P2P software.

 

Well there was one time when i was playing online games and an alert popped up claiming the detection of a worm. So i'd say its possible but very rare considering the many years i've been playing online with only the 1 incident.

 

The reason i use software firewall like Jetico cause its free and light. Server grade hardware firewall maybe too expensive for me unless i have money to buy it. My game server is only played by my friends that i know about 40 to 50 players. Because my server is expose to internet thats the reason i want some security to avoid any intruders and exploit. So far its running good now.

 

I meant since you already behind a router....or...did you DMZ your server? If you only opened/forwarded the bare minimum of ports necessary to run your game server..then IMO I wouldn't have a software firewall on there. Granted Jetico is light..but you'd still notice a difference...Jetico is a desktop firewall..not coded to deal with many many concurrent connections well. Sort of depends on which game(s) you're hosting also...if they're lighter weight games..probably not a big difference. But if you're hosting some serious traffic..like..above a solid 5 megs of upstream and higher..you'll without question notice a huge difference.

 

CHX-I would be the firewall you are seeking if you don't get a high grade router. It is very light and doesn't cause much latency. Also, it is designed more for a server environment, unlike jetico.

Alphalutra1

 

I have read about CHX-I software firewall in this forum. From the way i read it i need a little bit more knowledge to set up the rules than Jetico. I already download it and plan gonna give it a try on the weekend. Maybe i need some help from CHX-I expert here about the rules.