Wards and the like.

[Sgtpepper]

Every now and again I hear someone say something along the lines of,"We placed some wards to protect it," My question is what are these wards? Where are they found? And which ones are the most effective?

[Fouredged Sword]

Well, they come in three varieties.

Ward to keep it hidden - They ether work perfectly or you missed something and they fail completely
Wards to harm those who seek it - They work well for hasty or otherwise weak invaders
and
Wards that are a pain the the backside to bypass. - these are plentiful, but won't stop someone with enough effort.

The first are basically anti-divination spells and illusions.
The second are traps and trap like spells
The third are spells like arcane lock, guards and wards, and other spells that make things hard to get through.

[TuggyNE]

Every now and again I hear someone say something along the lines of,"We placed some wards to protect it," My question is what are these wards? Where are they found? And which ones are the most effective?

"Ward" is generally just another term for abjuration. There's an awful lot of them, since there's an entire school that's set up mostly for that purpose.