Task prioritization
The following table explains the reasons behind prioritization of scanning tasks:
Table 11. Reasons for task prioritization
Type of scan | Reason for prioritization |
|
|
Ad hoc versus background | Ad hoc scans run at higher priority than |
| background scans because ad hoc scans fill |
| extraordinary scanning needs: |
| v Ad hoc scans help you identify major |
| changes to your network or assess your |
| assets against newly identified threats. |
| v Background scans are cyclical scans for |
| ongoing vulnerability management. |
|
|
Discovery versus assessment | Assessment scans work only on already |
| discovered assets. Therefore, a discovery |
| task has a higher priority so that assets |
| maybe discovered before the assessment |
| scan runs. |
|
|
Criticality of assets in assessment scans | To ensure the best protection for your most |
| critical assets, your agent scans tasks in |
| order of criticality from highest to lowest. |
|
|
Stages of a scanning process
Many factors affect when and how scan jobs run. This topic provides a process that identifies the stages of a scanning cycle and explains the factors to consider at each stage.
Dynamic prioritization
Scanning jobs are prioritized at the task level so that a scan job does not have to finish before another scan job with higher priority tasks can be processed. When an agent completes a subtask, it processes the next subtask with the highest priority next.
Example: A background scan might be running when you start an ad hoc scan. You do not have to stop the background scan. The background scan continues until it has processed its current subtask, then the ad hoc scan takes priority and starts to run.
