Why Use Agents?

Issue: Your organization contains machines that are in "hard-to-reach" places. You have machines in remote locations, laptops that roam to different locations or that park and dock outside the office, machines in protected zones (DMZs), etc.

Solution: Use the agent-based features provided by Security Controls. With agents, you can be sure that these machines are scanned regularly, even if they are disconnected from your enterprise network.

This use case highlights the planning and implementation tasks involved with rolling out agents.

When to use an agent

Certain types of users or systems can pose problems for agentless solutions. Machines that must reside in a ”de-militarized zone” (DMZ), roaming users, and disconnected or inactive machines can all prove problematic. In these cases an agent-based solution is often the best answer. Agent-based solutions consist of proprietary client-side communications software that resides on a computer and facilitates communications with server-based administrative software. The agent scans the client machine for information and then provides the information directly to the server console.

Agent summary

• Best for frequently disconnected machines or machines in the DMZ
• Based on pull technology
• Ideal for distributed networks with remote locations that have limited bandwidth
• Less dependent on network connectivity; ideal for mobile computers that are not always connected to the network
• Each agent does its own scanning and deploying based on policies defined on the central console
• Best for performing patch management and asset management tasks on disconnected machines

Your next step

Go to the next topic: Agent Architecture