antivirus software question

I currently exclude the directories that contain the sql database files
(mdf, ldf) from my antivirus 'real time protection' and scheduled sweep
scans. Actually I do this for any database files (act, quickbooks, ms
access) but I was recently thinking about this and I realized that I'm not
really sure if its necessary?
sticking with SQL server 2000/2005 since that is what this forum is for, is
it true that I should be excluding these directories (the ones with the
database and log files) from my antivirus software's protection?
and just in case someone is also familiar with the needs of any of the other
databases I mentioned, please feel free to comment on them as well. All
those other systems are flat file based database systems. I don't know if
that makes a difference with respect to antivirus software.Each AntiVirus software scans computers differently. To generally say that
one wont affect your SQL server when anther might would be misleading.
You should test scanning folders with your particular software to see it
affects your SQL server. A decision should be made by the business owner as
to whether scanning that directory is mandated or not.
There are tons of known issues using Antivirus in a clutered envirnoment so
special attention should be givin in this situation.
here are two great articles...
"Guidelines for choosing antivirus software to run on the computers that are
running SQL Server"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=309422
"Antivirus Software May Cause Problems with Cluster Services"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/250355/
thanks,
--
/*
Warren Brunk - MCITP - SQL 2005, MCDBA
www.techintsolutions.com
*/
"djc" <noone@.nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:ezYIrdB3GHA.4228@.TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>I currently exclude the directories that contain the sql database files
>(mdf, ldf) from my antivirus 'real time protection' and scheduled sweep
>scans. Actually I do this for any database files (act, quickbooks, ms
>access) but I was recently thinking about this and I realized that I'm not
>really sure if its necessary?
> sticking with SQL server 2000/2005 since that is what this forum is for,
> is it true that I should be excluding these directories (the ones with the
> database and log files) from my antivirus software's protection?
> and just in case someone is also familiar with the needs of any of the
> other databases I mentioned, please feel free to comment on them as well.
> All those other systems are flat file based database systems. I don't know
> if that makes a difference with respect to antivirus software.
>|||thanks for the reply Warren. Are you refering to stability/corruption
effects or only performance effects? My main concern is if there may be
stability/corruption issues due to the antivirus, not performance. I could
gage the performance easily enough after making a change but its the
possible corruption and/or stability issues that my not be immediately
apparrent (and possibly realized to late!) that worry me. Does this change
anything? or is this still a per product issue that requires individual
testing? ...I'm always looking for that nice, simple, yet broad, rule thats
easy to remember : )
"Warren Brunk" <wbrunk@.techintsolutions.com> wrote in message
news:%23EaUchB3GHA.4312@.TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Each AntiVirus software scans computers differently. To generally say
> that one wont affect your SQL server when anther might would be
> misleading.
> You should test scanning folders with your particular software to see it
> affects your SQL server. A decision should be made by the business owner
> as to whether scanning that directory is mandated or not.
> There are tons of known issues using Antivirus in a clutered envirnoment
> so special attention should be givin in this situation.
> here are two great articles...
> "Guidelines for choosing antivirus software to run on the computers that
> are running SQL Server"
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=309422
> "Antivirus Software May Cause Problems with Cluster Services"
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/250355/
> thanks,
> --
> /*
> Warren Brunk - MCITP - SQL 2005, MCDBA
> www.techintsolutions.com
> */
>
> "djc" <noone@.nowhere.com> wrote in message
> news:ezYIrdB3GHA.4228@.TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>|||I am referring to both stability, performance and security. Installing
AntiVirus on a SQL server increases surface area which has security risks.
But what I am really trying to say is you need to test it with your
particular anti virus software. For me, I dont want anything actively
scanning my SQL server files for a thousand reasons. Antivirus software can
certainly create a bottleneck due to the program requiring too much CPU
time -- especially if the server is also running an e-mail server or program
that requires a lot of antivirus resources (not necessarily a best
practice). It can also create file I/O problems if real-time scanning is
enabled for all files that are opened. I definitely recommend running
malware protection on a SQL Server (or any database server for that matter),
but be sure to exclude your database directories (or specific database
files) from the real-time protection if you can. Also, keep an eye out on
processor utilization to make sure the malware protection is not eating up
all the resources.
I have seen countless forums on how AV software locks up your DB files and
put the database in Suspect Mode or causing SQL server to fail.
thanks,
/*
Warren Brunk - MCITP - SQL 2005, MCDBA
www.techintsolutions.com
*/
"djc" <noone@.nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:%23QtRDrB3GHA.4484@.TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> thanks for the reply Warren. Are you refering to stability/corruption
> effects or only performance effects? My main concern is if there may be
> stability/corruption issues due to the antivirus, not performance. I could
> gage the performance easily enough after making a change but its the
> possible corruption and/or stability issues that my not be immediately
> apparrent (and possibly realized to late!) that worry me. Does this change
> anything? or is this still a per product issue that requires individual
> testing? ...I'm always looking for that nice, simple, yet broad, rule
> thats easy to remember : )
> "Warren Brunk" <wbrunk@.techintsolutions.com> wrote in message
> news:%23EaUchB3GHA.4312@.TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>