Welcome to the sixth article that concludes our series on the Check Point SandBlast Agent Management Platform. As part of the cycle, we covered the main aspects of deploying and administering the SandBlast Agent using the Management Platform. In this article, we will try to answer the most popular questions related to the Management Platform solution and tell you how to test the SandBlast Agent Management Platform with our help for free.
All articles in the series about SandBlast Agent Management Platform:
FAQ
At the moment, there are not many sources of information about the SandBlast Agent Management Platform, the main ones are: , sections ΠΈ at CheckMate. Therefore, we decided to answer the most popular questions about the SandBlast Agent Management Platform that are of interest to administrators when considering this product as a solution for protecting personal workplaces of employees. There is also a very detailed FAQ on SandBlast Agent in .
1. What is the difference between SandBlast Agent Management Platform and SandBlast Agent Cloud Management?
The SandBlast Agent Cloud Management solution is the predecessor of the Management Platform and allows you to deploy a cloud-based agent management server in the Check Point infrastructure for further administration using SmartConsole. This is a convenient option that does not require the resources of an organization to deploy a virtual management server or install a physical device, but the limitation is the use of SmartConsole, which requires installation on an administrator's computer and is available only for Windows. At the moment, Check Point recommends SandBlast Agent Management Platform as the main solution for cloud administration of agents, as evidenced by an informational message when trying to create the SandBlast Agent Cloud Management application on the Infinity Portal.
2. How is SandBlast Agent Management Platform licensed?
No license is required to use the SandBlast Agent Management Platform, the ability to deploy the application to the Infinity Portal to manage agents is given even when purchasing a license for one SandBlast Agent. It is also worth noting that when registering an account in Infinity Portal, a temporary license is provided for 30 days, after which it is necessary to use a valid license for SandBlast Agent. Checking a valid license is carried out automatically without the participation of an administrator - just link your Check Point account to Infinity Portal in the Global Settings β Contracts β Associated Accounts section.
3. How is SandBlast Agent licensed?
There are several specifications of SandBlast Agent, which differ in the set of blades suitable for different tasks of protecting user machines. Below is a table from the official website , showing the differences between the current SandBlast Agent specifications. After choosing the appropriate specification, licensing is carried out for the required number of end devices.
4. What operating systems are supported for installing SandBlast Agent?
Currently the latest version of SandBlast Agent is available for Windows (7, 8, 10), Windows Server (2008 R2, 2012 R2, 2012, 2016, 2019), macOS (10.14, 10.15). Also, quite recently, Check Point announced the release of a beta version for Linux, which we talked about in . Up-to-date information about current releases of SandBlast Agent can always be found in . In addition, you can follow the schedule of past and future releases of SandBlast Agent in .
5. Can agents be managed using the Management Platform and SmartEndpoint?
When deploying agents through the Management Platform service, management is also supported using the "classic" SmartEndpoint console - it can be downloaded from the Service Management section. However, there is currently no full backwards compatibility between the Management Platform and SmartEndpoint settings, and conflicts may occur when administering agents using both consoles at the same time. This is primarily due to the use of a single Threat Prevention policy (the so-called Unified Policy) in the Management Platform, where all security components are combined into a single policy. In the Management Platform, you can set the display of settings compatible with SmartEndpoint - for this, select "User based Policy" in the Endpoint Settings β Policy Operation Mode section. Gaia R81 will have a web interface that is identical to the Management Platform, but currently it is recommended to use one agent management tool to avoid configuration conflicts.
How to test SandBlast Agent Management Platform?
You can test the SandBlast Agent Management Platform solution yourself or by contacting a partner for a full-fledged pilot project. For self-testing, it is enough to register on the Infinity Portal according to the instructions from our , this will automatically create a temporary license for a month to administer 100 user machines.
The second option is to deploy and test the SandBlast Agent Management Platform as part of a pilot project conducted in conjunction with an engineer from a partner company, Check Point. The pilot project is absolutely free and is aimed at demonstrating the operation of the product with the possibility of consultations with qualified specialists. For a pilot project of the SandBlast Agent Management Platform, please contact us at .
Instead of a conclusion
As part of a series of articles on the SandBlast Agent Management Platform, we tried to highlight the main features of the solution and demonstrate the configuration of important security components using specific examples. We will be happy to answer any questions about the product in the comments.
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Source: habr.com