Endpoint Administration Guide for Windows › Managing Endpoints › Components › Services

Services

Watchdog

The Watchdog constantly checks that the other CA ControlMinder services are running. On the rare occasion when the Watchdog discovers that another service has stopped, it immediately starts the service again.

Agent

The Agent is responsible for the following tasks:

• Communicating with CA ControlMinder clients through a proprietary application protocol above TCP/IP
• Managing security for the CA ControlMinder user

Engine

The Engine is responsible for the following tasks:

• Managing the database, including controlling all database updates
• Deciding whether to grant access requests that it receives from the Driver and the Agent
• Checking that the Watchdog service is running, and restarting the Watchdog if it discovers that the Watchdog has stopped running

The Engine handles database access requests and makes the access decision, creating an efficient service.

Policy Model

Managing tens or hundreds of databases individually is not practical. Therefore, CA ControlMinder supplies the Policy Model service, a component that permits management of many computers from one computer. Using the Policy Model service is optional, but it greatly simplifies administration at large sites.

With the Policy Model service, use a Policy Model database (PMDB). Like other CA ControlMinder databases, the PMDB contains users, groups, protected resources, and rules governing access to the resources. In addition, the PMDB contains a list of subscriber stations. A subscriber station is one linked to the PMDB so that any change to the PMDB is automatically sent to the subscriber database.

You can create a basic security policy for your organization and implement all the necessary rules on a single database-the Policy Model database. The subscribers can include both Windows and UNIX stations, ensuring uniform rules with minimal administrative effort.

The system or security administrator updates the PMDB. The PMDB then propagates all updates from the PMDB to its subscribers in batch mode, freeing the administrator for other work.

A PMDB can have two types of subscribers: another PMDB or a local database. This PMDB also contains a list of subscribers to which it propagates database updates. This feature lets you build a hierarchy of PMDBs. The local database can be used to protect the users, groups, and resources defined on the station.