IBM Proventia Network Enterprise User Manual - Priorities For Running Tasks

Priorities for Running Tasks

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IBM Proventia Network Enterprise Scanner User Guide, Version 1.3

Priorities for Running Tasks

Introduction

To determine the order of scanning, each task in a scan job is assigned a priority. The tasks 

for all jobs assigned to a perspective run in priority order as follows: 

●

Ad hoc scans run before background scans. 

●

Discovery scans run before assessment scans.

●

With assessment scans, tasks run in order of the criticality of the assets in the task. 

Criticality and 

assessment tasks

User-assigned criticality ratings indicate the relative importance of assets in a group. A 

group can contain assets with different criticality ratings. When Enterprise Scanner 

divides the job into tasks, it creates separate tasks for each criticality level and assigns 

assets to the tasks with the corresponding criticality. Consequently, the assets in an 

assessment task are of the same criticality, with the following results: 

●

An assessment scan contains at least one task for each asset criticality represented in 

each group.

●

Asset criticality affects the priority of the task. 

Example:

If a scan job includes a group with one subgroup, and the group and subgroup 

contain assets with all levels of criticality, the job will run as at least 11 tasks—one 

management task and one task for each criticality in each group. 

Task prioritization

Table 46 explains the reasons behind prioritization of scanning tasks: 

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:

•

Ad hoc scans help you identify major changes to your network 

or assess your assets against newly identified threats.

•

Background scans are cyclical scans for on-going vulnerability 

management. 

Discovery vs. 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.

Table 46: Reasons for task prioritization