How do I create a Scanner Appliance group?

A Scanner Appliance group contains one or more Scanner Appliances assigned to specific IP addresses or networks. Security Center automatically distributes the scan workload across all Scanner Appliances in the group. 

Redundancy

A Scanner Appliance group can be used for scanner redundancy, to minimize the risk of scans not being carried out. 

Scanner Appliance goes offline

If one Scanner Appliance in the group becomes unavailable (goes offline) before or during a scan, the scan will be redistributed to another Scanner Appliances in the group that is online. 

Workload distribution

Security Center uses an algorithm to select the Scanner Appliance in the group with the fewest active runs. When the target network is large, it is divided into a parent scan and multiple child scans. Security Center allows a maximum of 16 child scans per parent scan, and Scanner Appliance groups help speed up the process by running child scans in parallel.

For example, if you want to scan 10.50.0.0/16, Security Center will create 16 child scans, each assigned to a different Scanner Appliance in the group.

Groups & networks

When a scan is triggered, Security Center uses an algorithm to select the Scanner Appliance in the group with the fewest active runs. If no single Scanner Appliance has a lower run count, one is selected at random. 

Create a Scanner Appliance group

1. Log in to Security Center.
2. Click Assessments in the main menu.
3. Click Scanner Appliances.
4. Click the edit icon for the Scanner Appliance you want to edit.
5. Click Group in the menu.
6. Under Group, select an existing group from the dropdown or create a new one by entering a name in the Name field.
7. Enter the IP addresses or networks the Scanner Appliance should have access to in the Reachable IP networks field, and press Enter. 
8. Click OK.
9. Done!