Hi, I am running an internet cafe with 20 computers, and I need advice on the best way of protecting the system from viruses and the like.

Someone mentioned an an anti-virus called Panda. Does anyone have any idea how good it is. By the way I live in Zambia where a lot of software is either very expensive or not available at all.

For 20 computers, I would recommend having all of the anti-virus software managed centrally from a server. We use Symantec Anti-Virus Corporate Edition. This is the medium/large enterprise version of Norton Anti-Virus. The benefits are:

1) Update the server and it automatically rolls out updates to client PCs;
2) .... so you never forget to update one machine and leaving your whole network vulnerable;
3) Settings are managed centrally on the server and client PCs have a password on the options so that users cannot switch it off;
4) Cheaper for a large number of PCs than buying a separate licence of Norton Anti-Virus for each one;
5) Optional maintenance agreement gets you technical support and free version updates from Symantec;
6) Set up an image of the software on the server and do a central roll-out to the 20 client PCs - saves time

There's also a Norton Anti-Virus small business edition that might work out cheaper for 20 PCs. I'm not sure whether that runs off of a server or not.

Also look at AVG anti-virus, which is free for personal use and is the one that we normally recommend here for home users who don't want to pay much for anti-virus software. It won't be free for your business use but it would be worth looking at how much the Professional version is: http://www.grisoft.com

Hope that helps