Multiple remote Agent Handlers help you manage large deployments without adding additional McAfee ePO servers to your environment.

The Agent Handler is the component of your server responsible for managing agent requests. Each McAfee ePO server installation includes an Agent Handler by default. Some scenarios in which you might want to USE multiple remote Agent Handlers include:

• You want to allow agents to choose between multiple physical devices, so they can continue to call in and receive policy, task, and product updates; even if the application server is unavailable, and you don’t want to cluster your McAfee ePO server.
• Your existing ePolicy Orchestrator INFRASTRUCTURE needs to be expanded to handle more agents, more products, or a higher load due to more frequent agent-server communication intervals (ASCI).
• You want to use your McAfee ePO server to manage disconnected network segments, such as systems that use Network Address Translation (NAT) or in an external network.
• Multiple Agent Handlers can provide added scalability and lowered complexity in managing large deployments. However, because Agent Handlers require a very FAST network connection, there are some scenarios in which you should not use them, including:
• To replace distributed repositories. Distributed repositories are local FILE shares intended to keep agent communication traffic local. While Agent Handlers do have repository functionality built in, they require constant communication with your ePolicy Orchestrator database, and therefore consume a significantly larger amount of bandwidth.
• To improve repository replication across a WAN connection. The constant communication back to your database required by repository replication can saturate the WAN connection.
• To connect a disconnected network segment where there is limited or irregular connectivity to the ePolicy Orchestrator database.

Multiple remote Agent Handlers help you manage large deployments without adding additional McAfee ePO servers to your environment.

The Agent Handler is the component of your server responsible for managing agent requests. Each McAfee ePO server installation includes an Agent Handler by default. Some scenarios in which you might want to use multiple remote Agent Handlers include: