VMware vCenter Protect Essentials Plus for Workstation

"This includes centralized management for Windows operating systems and Windows-hosted applications."

All of the features of Protect Essentials, with the addition of antivirus, power management, configuration management, and advanced ITScripting with vCenter Protect Essentials Plus.

Antivirus protection
• Complete protection against the top security threats – operating system patching, application-level patching, virtual machine patching, and antivirus
• Integrated with the leading SMB antivirus product, Sunbelt VIPRE Enterprise Antivirus + Antispyware, to reduce the number of agents on desktops and laptops
• Schedule data file downloads for new patch and/or antivirus/spyware signatures
• View patch and threat information at the same time
• Real-time file scanning for all threats – including spyware, adware, malware, and viruses

Configuration management
• Automated policy baseline development and enforcement; including two predefined baseline policies and custom-created policies that define the specific, required configuration checks
• Manage migration from physical to virtual machines through tight coupling with VMware vSphere
• Policy cloning and distribution leverage existing, approved system configurations and easily create a security IT infrastructure that can be measured against a pre-defined industry configuration baseline
• Policy mapping and regulatory audit address current regulations such as PCI, SOX, GLBA, HIPAA, FDCC and FISMA and auditing standards such as ISO 27002 and NIST 800-53
• Downloadable PCI DSS template helps retailers and financial institutions comply with industry regulations, including proof points for many of the 12 PCI DSS requirements such as performing age checking
• With group membership, scan for and collect information about groups defined on scanned machines.
• Audit-ready reporting easily creates a variety of “audit ready” reports that will demonstrate that the proper configuration controls are in place and operational while providing alignment between the various regulations (PCI, SOX, HIPAA, etc.) and the requirements of either internal or external auditors who utilize industry standard policy frameworks to measure compliance and prove "due care" has been taken
• Scheduled scanning and policy enforcement specifies when and how often a scan should be run
• Export an existing policy to an XML file making the policy available to be imported by other installations of vCenter Protect Essentials Plus
• Custom check wizard to track items that are unique to your organization

Power Management
• Power machines off in the evenings and on weekends and wake machines up to deploy critical security patches and then put them back in a power saving state automatically to reduce attack surfaces and save energy
• Wake-on LAN services (remotely power on machines for patching then power down)
• Save energy and money by powering off computers at night and on weekends

ITScripts
• Support for industry-standard scripting language, Microsoft PowerShell®
• Ability to build unique workflow processes
• Configuration ITScripts: These can modify a system's settings to correct behavior or resolve issues. This could include, but is not limited to enabling or disabling of services, modification to registry and file system, etc.
• Maintenance ITScripts: These focus on regular maintenance tasks for servers and workstations, but may also include some application specific maintenance. For example, resetting local admin password, removing temp files and internet files, and Protect console temp files and repository cleanup.
• Information ITScripts: These include scripts relating to collecting information from machines such as last boot time, service tag, running services, existing shares, system event logs, etc. These scripts may be used to validate settings, assist in day-to-day troubleshooting for admins outside of Patch Management, collect data that generally require a lot of manual effort.
• Network ITScripts: These will focus on network related protocols and troubleshooting such as port scanning, machine resolution, etc.

Snapshot Backup Recovery
• Take and manage "snapshots" of VMs (virtual machines) - both immediately before and immediately after patching
• Automate backup process so a current and relevant backup copy of VMs is immediately available for roll-back or disaster recovery

Template VM Patching
A template is a master copy of a virtual machine that can be used to quickly and consistently create and provision new virtual machines. The template image typically includes a specified operating system and configuration that provides virtual counterparts to hardware components. Normally, a template includes an installed guest operating system and a set of applications. VMware vCenter Protect Essentials supports template patch updates to ensure that these templates are always at a ready patched status consistent with policy so that when they are brought online they don’t place your network at any security, stability or compliance risk.

Comparison of VMware vCenter Protect Essentials Editions: