RSA DLP Datacenter temporary vs permanent agents
2 years ago
Originally Published: 2008-06-12
Article Number
000045950
Applies To
RSA DLP Datacenter
Issue
Advantages/Dis-advantages of temporary and permanent Datacenter agents
Resolution
For agent-based scans, two types of agents are available?temporary agents and permanent agents. Each type has its advantages:

>Temporary agents exist on the target machine only while the analysis is in progress. After the agent completes its analysis on the target machine, it halts and removes itself from the machine.

>Permanent agents remain on the target machine after completing the analysis, to allow themselves to re-do the analysis later, without having to be installed once again from the DLP Site Coordinator host.

Note:During a scan, if Datacenter encounters a target machine (or grid machine) that does not already have a permanent agent installed, it installs an agent?either temporary or permanent?to use during that scan. (The process of installing a Datacenter agent automatically during a scan is called bootstrapping.)

The main advantage to using a temporary agent is that there is no need to pre-provision or pre-deploy agents to a whole network of target machines before scanning. Also, because the agent removes itself when done, the target machine is returned to the same state it occupied before the scan began.

The advantages of using a permanent agent include the fact that it can be scheduled to run multiple times, and that some time is saved on each scan because the agent need not be bootstrapped from the Site Coordinator before analysis can start.

With either type of agent, the results are automatically sent back to Site Coordinator after the analysis is complete and the connection has been restored.
Don't see what you're looking for?