How To Perform Distributed Scan

This section covers the following topics:

• How Distributed Scan Works
• Distributed Scan Requirements
  • Proxy Agent Requirements
  • Supported Targets
• Start a Distributed Scan
• Monitor a Distributed Scan Schedule

You can use ER Cloud to perform a distributed scan on a Target or Target location using a group of Proxy Agents. Distributed scans allow you to:

1. Improve scanning time by having multiple scanning processes executed in parallel.
2. Optimize resources by distributing the scanning load across multiple Proxy Agent hosts which might otherwise have been unutilized.

Distributed scans are particularly useful for scanning Targets that have a vast number of locations, for example:

• An Exchange Server with thousands of mailboxes.
• A Microsoft SQL Server with hundreds of databases, with thousands of tables per database.

For more information, see Distributed Scan Requirements below.

How Distributed Scan Works

For a more detailed explanation on distributed scans, see Scanning - How A Distributed Scan Works.

Distributed Scan Requirements

Proxy Agent Requirements

To perform a distributed scan on a Target or group of Targets, you need to create an Agent Group to be assigned to the Target or Target location. Ensure that all Proxy Agents in the Agent Group:

• Have been upgraded to version 2.1 and above.

• Support scanning of the Target platform.

  If any Proxy Agent within the Agent Group does not support scanning of the Target, all sub-scans assigned to the Proxy Agent will not be executed, subsequently causing the scan schedule to fail. To check which Agents are supported for a Target, refer to the respective pages under the Target Types section.
  To run a distributed scan on a MySQL database, ensure that the Agent Group assigned to the scan only contains Windows Proxy Agents or Linux Proxy Agents.
  If the Agent Group assigned to scan the MySQL database includes a Solaris Proxy Agent, the scan schedule will be marked as "Failed" due to incomplete sub-scans.

Supported Targets

For the complete table of supported Targets, see Scanning - Supported Targets for Distributed Scan.

Start a Distributed Scan

Running a distributed scan is the same as starting any other scan.

1. Log in to the ER Cloud Web Console.
2. Navigate to the Select Locations page by clicking on:
   • Scans > New Scan, or
   • the New Scan button in the Dashboard, Targets, or Scans > Schedule Manager page.
3. On the Select Locations page, click + Add Unlisted Target. Follow the on-screen instructions to add a new Target.
4. When prompted to select an Agent to act as proxy host, click on the Select proxy agent menu and select a suitable Agent Group.
   If any Proxy Agent within the Agent Group does not support scanning of the Target, all sub-scans assigned to the Proxy Agent will not be executed, subsequently causing the scan schedule to fail. To check which Agents are supported for a Target, refer to the respective pages under the Target Types section.
5. Click Test, and then Commit.
6. On the Select Data Types page, select the Data Type Profiles to be included in your scan and click Next. Refer to the Use Data Type Profiles section.
7. In the Set Schedule section, set a scan schedule. Refer to the Set Schedule section.
8. Click Next.
9. Review your scan configuration. Once done, click Start Scan.

Monitor a Distributed Scan Schedule

Distributed scans show up in the Targets page and Scans > Schedule Manager page in the Web Console just like any other scan. For more information, refer to the View and Manage Scans section.