RE: how many clients per server w/ nessus?

["Chris Eidem" <ceidem () Dexma com>]

> Has anybody ever setup a central nessus server to be
> used with multiple, simultaneous clients?  Any idea
> what the safe max per server is in terms of # clients
> and # scanning threads (ie: target IPs/hosts)?  I'm
> interested in setting up a central server with the
> ability to scan 50-100 confirmed hosts simultaneous
> from 5-10 unique clients and am wondering if 1 server
> can handle this, or if I'll need to setup multiple
> servers.

this has just been discussed on the nessus list.  here's a number for
you to contemplate:

From: Renaud Deraison [mailto:deraison () nessus org]
Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 5:44 AM
To: nessus () list nessus org
Subject: Re: Multiple Nessus Scans


On Mon, Jul 22, 2002 at 07:09:14PM +0100, Justin Owens wrote:
> I have just changed the nessusrc file aswell so that max_hosts = 2
> But am still getting the same result.

The number of processes you will see is equal to :

        2 * max_host * max_checks



                                -- Renaud

basically, the nessusd machine will be fine, but you may want to keep an
eye on your network, as the server could flood the switches, or cause
your firewall to run out of connection handles.

 - chris

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