Scheduled and running scans

To make it easier to explain the scanning processes, scans are consideredscheduled
when they are displayed in the Command Jobs window. Because jobs might not
start to scan immediately, they are consideredscheduled until the job actually
starts to create tasks and run subtasks.

The importance of tasks and subtasks

Because a task assumes the criticality of the assets it contains, Enterprise Scanner
can assign priority factors to tasks based on asset criticality. Because tasks run in
units determined by subtask size, Enterprise Scanner can run subtasks that can run
to completion during an open scanning window.
Types of tasks
This topic describes the types of tasks in a scan and explains which apply to
discovery and which apply to assessment scans.
A scanning job is organized by tasks. Tasksmanage other tasks or subtasks, or they
manage the subtasks that actually scan your network and assets. Several factors,
including whether the scan is for discovery or assessment influence, which types of
tasks a scan job contains.

Common management tasks

Every scan, whether for discovery or assessment, includes the following
management tasks:
Table9. Common management tasks for discovery and assessment scans
Management task Description
A job-level task A task that appears once for each type of
scan. It is identified by the name given to
the scan.
One or more Parent-level tasks A task that appears for each group and
subgroup affected by the scan. It is
identified by the following components:
vParent
vType_of_Scan, such as Ad Hoc Discovery
or Ad Hoc Assessment
vName_of_Asset_Group

Base management tasks

For assessment scans, Enterprise Scanner uses a base task for each group in the
scan. The base task manages the scanning tasks for each criticality in a group. The
base task is identified as ″Base Assessment Scan for Group.″
72 Enterprise Scanner: User Guide