Background Updating
These properties determine how the Control Center handles its background network communication tasks. The Control Center continuously monitors activity using background network communications to help administer Spector Client (Client) monitored computers. Background Updating is used to determine various properties of computers on the network.
Background Updating works in conjunction with the Startup Method. If a computer list file is used as described in that section, then only those computers listed in the file are included in the background updates. Otherwise, all computers detected during discovery will be included in the background updates.
Background Update of Control Center Views
This property enables/disables background network activity. If it is not selected, then the Control Center will NOT perform background updating.
Note: While
it is not required for operation, background updating is necessary in
many instances where you need to keep track of network Client installations.
Therefore, unless there are network problems preventing it, it is recommended
that this property be selected at all times.
Update Computer Information Only
This property is used to reduce the network activity required by the Control Center. If enabled, this option provides for updating only those computers that are already in the computer list in the Manage Computers view during background updates.
Example: After the startup method is applied (either by discovery or load from file), only those computers displayed in the Manage Computers view are included in the background updates.
This feature helps to reduce network activity by eliminating the need for the Control Center to perform certain network requests to discover new computers on the network and/or determine if certain computers have been shut down. The Control Center assumes that the computer list is accurate and only attempts to communicate with those computers in the list.
Update Interval
This property determines how often the Control Center starts the background updating process. This property defaults to five minutes, but you can reduce network traffic by setting this property to a higher value. Most stable networks do not need small values.
Example: Situations where users log onto their computer in the morning and log off when they leave at night are considered stable. These network computers change little during the course of the day. Constantly updating the internal state of the Control Center is not necessary.
Note: Experiment with
this value to determine what suits your situation best.