In a distributed deployment of Check Point R80, how many machines are required excluding the SmartConsole machine?

In a distributed deployment of Check Point R80, at least two machines are essential to ensure the separation of roles and responsibilities within the architecture. One machine typically acts as the Security Management Server, which is responsible for managing policies, logs, and configurations. The second machine functions as the Security Gateway, tasked with inspecting and enforcing security policies on the network traffic.

This separation is foundational to the distributed architecture, as it allows for scalability and efficiency. Adding more gateways can enhance the performance and redundancy of the deployment, though at a minimum, two machines are needed: one for management and one for policy enforcement.

The other options suggest fewer machines, which is not adequate for a distributed model as it would lack the necessary separation of functions critical to managing and securing network environments effectively.