Understanding Management Pack Operations

This section provides additional information about the object types the Microsoft Exchange Management Pack discovers, how health rolls up, and the key scenarios for monitoring your Exchange Server 2003 environment. It also includes a discussion of how you can view your monitoring information in the Operations Manager 2007 Operations Console.

Objects the Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack Discovers

The Exchange Server 2003 Discovery Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 enables the discovery of the object types described in the following table. All object discovery rules are targeted at the Exchange 2003 Role, which is the top-level object type in the Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack.

Object Discovery Rule Name	Discovered Object Type
Exchange 2003 ActiveSync Discovery	Exchange 2003 ActiveSync component on Exchange 2003 front-end servers
Exchange 2003 Database Discovery	Exchange database component(s) on Exchange 2003 back-end servers
Exchange 2003 IMAP4 Service Discovery	Exchange 2003 IMAP4 service
Exchange 2003 Information Store Discovery	Exchange 2003 Information Store service
Exchange 2003 Initial Server Discovery	The initial discovery of a server running Exchange Server 2003. Disabling this rule disables all local discovery of a server running Exchange 2003 Server
Exchange 2003 Mailflow Discovery	Exchange 2003 Mailflow Monitoring Component
Exchange 2003 Management Service Discovery	Exchange 2003 Management Service
Exchange 2003 MAPI Discovery	MAPI logon monitoring component on a back-end server running Exchange Server 2003
Exchange 2003 Message Transfer Agent Stack Service Discovery	Exchange 2003 MTA Stack Service
Exchange 2003 Outlook Mobile Access Discovery	Exchange 2003 Outlook Mobile Access component on front-end servers for Exchange Server 2003
Exchange 2003 Outlook Web Access Discovery	Exchange 2003 Outlook Web Access component on front-end servers for Exchange Server 2003
Exchange 2003 POP3 Service Discovery	Exchange 2003 POP3 Service
Exchange 2003 Queue Discovery	Exchange 2003 Queue Monitoring Component
Exchange 2003 Replication Service Discovery	Exchange 2003 Replication Service
Exchange 2003 Routing Engine Service Discovery	Exchange 2003 Routing Engine Service
Exchange 2003 Server Role Attribute Discovery	Discovers all attributes of a server running Exchange Server 2003
Exchange 2003 System Attendant Service Discovery	Exchange 2003 System Attendant Service
Exchange 2003 SMTP Service Discovery	Exchange 2003 SMTP Service
Exchange 2003 Topology Discovery	Exchange 2003 topology. The topology can include computers running Exchange Server 2003 that are not yet managed by Operations Manager 2007

How Health Rolls Up

The Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack views the messaging service as a hierarchy, where each level depends on the objects at the next level to be healthy. The top of this hierarchy is the Exchange Service object, and the lowest levels are the components of an Exchange back-end or front-end server, such as Information Store. When a specified number, defined in the Management Pack, of the lower level objects change state, the level above them changes state to match. This action is called "rolling up health."

The following illustration is the topology view of an Exchange Service object with one back-end (YUG060D) and one front-end (YUG078D) server.

In this illustration, the health of the Exchange Service is critical, as denoted by the red dot with an X through it. YUG060D is healthy, as denoted by a white dot with a √ (check mark) though it. For the purposes of Exchange Server 2003, this implies all of the Exchange managed objects hosted by YUG060D are healthy. For Exchange, a higher level object can be healthy only if all of its lower level objects are healthy.

YUG078D is in a critical state. Within the box that represents YUG078D, the Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), Outlook Mobile Access (OMA), and Outlook Web Access (OWA) managed objects are in critical states. To check the health of these objects, in the Operations Manager 2007 Operations Console, you can right-click these objects, and then click Health Explorer.

In Health Explorer, you can see the availability, configuration, performance, and security monitors for the object, although not all monitor types are necessarily provided for every object type. By clicking on the monitors that are in a critical state, you will be provided with information and actions to help resolve the issue.

The Exchange Topology view is a diagram view. Operations Manager 2007 also provides Alert, Event, State, Performance, Task Status, and Dashboard views to help you better understand the health of your IT environment.

Key Monitoring Scenarios

The Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 includes monitors, rules, alerts, views, and reports to help manage the availability, configuration, performance, and security of your Exchange Server 2003 environment.

The monitors, rules, and alerts can be enabled, configured, and disabled through overrides, according to your requirements. For more information about a specific monitor, rule, alert, or view, see its properties in the Operations Manager 2007 Operations Console.

It is recommended that you create a Management Pack exclusively for containing the overrides you create for the Exchange Management Pack and then apply the Management Pack to the appropriate group, such as the Exchange 2003 Role. By doing so, you can verify your overrides in a test environment, export the Management Pack you created, and then import the Management Pack to your production environment.

Notifications can be configured for an alert so that the messaging team can be notified when a specific alert occurs. This notification enables the team to quickly respond to issues, helping to prevent an interruption of service. For information on configuring notifications, see the "About Notifications in Operations Manager 2007" topic in the Operations Manager 2007 Help.

Following are key scenarios for managing Exchange Server 2003 environments with Operations Manager 2007.

What Exchange Objects on My Network Can I Manage?

Object discovery is the process Operations Manager 2007 automatically performs to collect data about objects on the network that it can manage. By importing the Exchange Server 2003 Management Packs, new object types, such as Exchange organizations, servers running Exchange, and the Outlook Web Access component, can be discovered and thereby managed.

There are two primary types of discovery for Exchange: topology and local.

• Exchange Topology Discovery collects data about Exchange organizations, administrative groups, routing groups, routing group connectors, and their attributes. It can even discover servers that are not yet managed by Operations Manager 2007.

  Note

  For a sample Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack topology view, see the preceding section How Health Rolls Up.

• Exchange local discovery collects data about managed Exchange back-end and front-end servers and their child objects, such as Exchange database components.

Can MAPI Clients Log On to the Exchange Database?

Through the MAPI Logon Monitor and rules provided by the Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack, you will know whether MAPI clients, such as Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, can access the databases that store Exchange data.

Monitor for MAPI Logon Monitoring

The Exchange MAPI Logon Monitor performs synthetic MAPI Logon to Exchange servers. A failure usually indicates the Exchange server is unavailable. A diagnostic task and a link to a relevant Microsoft Knowledge Base article are provided to help quickly resolve the issue.

Rules for MAPI Logon Monitoring

The following table describes the rules for MAPI Logon monitoring.

Rule Name	Alert Properties
Event Collection Rule for MAPI Logon failure > [!NOTE] > There are multiple rules with the same name. They each collect a different event. >	Not applicable: This rule collects event data; it does not generate alerts.
MAPI Logon Failure	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
MAPI Logon Failure: Cannot verify Exchange Information Store service availability due to unexpected error	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
MAPI Logon Failure: Error preventing MAPI Logon attempt	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
MAPI Logon Failure: Test mailbox residing on the wrong server	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Performance Collection Rule for MAPI Logon latency	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.

Views for MAPI Logon Monitoring

The views for MAPI Logon monitoring are in the Operations Console Monitoring pane in the Microsoft Exchange Server\Exchange 2003\MAPI Logon node. The views for MAPI Logon monitoring are as follows:

• MAPI Logon Active Alerts
• MAPI Logon Latency

The MAPI Logon Active Alerts view displays alerts generated by the MAPI Logon monitors and rules.

The MAPI Logon Latency Performance view displays performance data in graphical format for MAPI Logon Latency. You do not need to wait for the time it takes test e-mail messages to be received by the receiver monitor to exceed the interval. If the time it takes for the e-mail messages to be received is increasing, you can investigate the issue and resolve it before an alert is ever raised.

Reports for MAPI Logon Monitoring

There are two reports provided with Operations Manager 2007 that can help you analyze trends in MAPI Logon for your Exchange environment: Availability and Performance. These reports are located in the Operations Console Reporting pane in Reporting\Microsoft Generic Report Library.

Can E-mail Be Sent and Received?

This scenario is often referred to as mail flow monitoring. In this scenario, test messages between sending and receiving servers are sent out periodically. This is one of the fastest ways to monitor availability of the messaging services.

If messages can be sent and received, the servers running Exchange and their components are functioning. If messages are not received, an alert is raised and you are able to quickly investigate the issue, potentially before your customers notice a change in their ability to send and receive e-mail messages.

Configuring the sending and receiving servers is done through the Exchange Management Pack Configuration Wizard. For more information about the Configuration Wizard, see the "Getting Started" section of this guide.

Monitors for Mail Flow Monitoring

Exchange mail flow has three monitors:

• Exchange Mail Flow Monitor (Sender Part)
• Exchange Mail Flow Monitor (Receiver Part)
• Performance Collection Rule for Mail flow receiver

The sender monitor generates and sends an e-mail message to the receiving servers, scheduled by default for every 15 minutes. The health state of mail flow changes to critical if the sender experiences an error. The sender monitor generates alerts only on configuration issues.

The receiver monitor verifies whether the test e-mail messages sent by the sender monitor are received within the specified time, referred to as the Schedule or Interval, and how long delivery took, referred to as the Allowed Latency or Latency. The Health State of mail flow changes to critical and alerts are generated if test e-mail messages are not received within the specified Schedule and the number of attempts has been exceeded, referred to as Max Missed Runs or Number of max missed runs. The default number of attempts is 4. The receiving monitor also generates an alert if it took longer to receive the e-mail message than the allowed latency, for which the default is 60 seconds.

Rules for Mail Flow Monitoring

The following table describes the rules for mail flow monitoring.

Rule Name	Alert Properties
An incorrect parameter was sent to the Received Mail script	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
EAS logon failure: Forbidden	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Configuration problem detected by the mail flow receiver script	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Configuration problem detected by the mail flow sender script	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
General errors in the mail flow receiver script	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
General errors in the mail flow sender script	Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Mail flow latency exceeded the specified threshold	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Mail flow message not received	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Mail flow script cannot resolve recipient's address	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Performance Collection Rule for mail flow receiver	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
Timeout when calling the mail flow receiver	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Timeout when calling the mail flow sender	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Warning: Mail flow message not received	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning

Views for Mail Flow Monitoring

The views for mail flow monitoring are in the Operations Console Monitoring pane in the Microsoft Exchange Server\Exchange 2003\Mail Flow node. The views for mail flow monitoring are as follows:

• Mail Flow Active Alerts
• Mail Flow Performance Data

The Mail Flow Active Alerts view displays alerts generated by the mail flow monitors and rules.

The Mail Flow Performance Data view displays performance data in graphical format for mail flow latency. You do not need to wait for the time it takes test e-mail messages to be received by the receiver monitor to exceed the interval. If the time it takes for the e-mail messages to be received is increasing, you can investigate the issue and resolve it before an alert is ever raised.

Reports for Mail Flow Monitoring

There are two reports provided with Operations Manager 2007 that can help you analyze trends in Mail Flow for your Exchange Environment: Availability and Performance. These reports are located in the Operations Console Reporting pane in Reporting\Microsoft Generic Report Library:

Are Customers Able to Access Their E-mail with Their Web Browser?

The following monitors and rules verify the availability and performance of Outlook Web Access (OWA) on front-end Exchange Server 2003 servers. They perform synthetic OWA logons and monitor the results to determine OWA availability and performance. Different types of alerts are generated for different failures.

Monitors for OWA Monitoring

The monitor for OWA is Outlook Web Access Logon Monitor.

The Outlook Web Access Logon Monitor performs a synthetic OWA logon, by default every 15 minutes, and verifies the health of OWA. If the monitor cannot log on and verify the health of OWA, it changes the state of OWA to critical and raises the following critical alert: "Exchange OWA monitor reported a problem."

Key Rules for OWA Monitoring

There are approximately 70 rules to help you monitor the health of OWA. Following are a few of the more important rules for verifying the ability of customers to quickly access their Exchange e-mail by using Internet Explorer.

Rule Name	Alert Properties
Outlook Web Access: Current Web Service Connections	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
Outlook Web Access: Message Opens / second	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
Outlook Web Access: Message Sends / second	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
Outlook Web Access: Number of Recent Users	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
Outlook Web Access: Authentication / second	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
Outlook Web Access: Total Messages Opened	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
Outlook Web Access: Total Messages Sent	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
Outlook Web Access logon failure: (HTTP error 401) Unauthorized	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Outlook Web Access logon failure: Service Unavailable	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Performance Collection Rule for Outlook Web Access logon latency	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.

Views for OWA Monitoring

The views for OWA monitoring are in the Operations Console Monitoring pane in the Microsoft Exchange Server\Exchange 2003\Outlook Web Access node. The views for OWA are as follows:

• OWA Active Alerts
• OWA Logon Latency
• OWA Performance Data

The OWA Active Alerts view displays alerts generated by the OWA monitors and rules. For more information about an alert, see its properties in the Operations Manager 2007 Operations Console.

The OWA Logon Latency view displays performance data in graphical format for OWA logon latency. You do not need to wait for customers to call the help desk with logon issues. If the time it takes to log on is increasing, you can investigate the issue and resolve it before an alert is ever raised.

The OWA Performance Data view displays key performance data for the OWA servers in graphical form. Select the items you want charted, such as Outlook Web Access: Authentication / second, for each managed front-end server.

Reports for OWA Monitoring

There are two reports provided with Operations Manager 2007 that can help you analyze trends in OWA for your Exchange environment: Availability and Performance. These reports are located in the Operations Console Reporting pane in Reporting\Microsoft Generic Report Library.

Are Customers Able to Synch Their Devices?

The following monitors and rules for Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) perform synthetic EAS logons, and check the results to verify the availability and performance of Exchange ActiveSync on front-end servers running Exchange Server 2003.

Monitors for EAS Monitoring

Exchange EAS has two monitors:

• Exchange ActiveSync Monitor
• Exchange ActiveSync Heartbeat Interval Monitor

The Exchange ActiveSync Monitor performs a synthetic EAS logon, by default every 15 minutes, and verifies the health of EAS. If the monitor cannot log on and verify the health of EAS, it changes the state of EAS to critical and raises the following critical alert: "Exchange EAS monitor reported a problem."

Exchange ActiveSync Heartbeat Interval Monitor helps verify that requests to Exchange ActiveSync do not expire before they have the opportunity to be processed. The monitor collects performance data on the specified interval, by default every five minutes, and verifies the average time it takes Exchange heartbeats by the most recently connected devices to be received by the front-end server is within the calculated baseline. If the average rate of Exchange heartbeats is above the baseline, a warning alert is raised. For more information about baseline monitoring, see "Self-Tuning Threshold Monitors in Operations Manager 2007" in the Operations Manager 2007 Help.

Key Rules for EAS Monitoring

There are approximately 50 rules to help you monitor the health of EAS. Following are some of the more important rules for verifying the ability of devices to log on to the Exchange server and the performance of EAS.

Rule Name	Alert properties
ActiveSync: Pending I/O requests to Exchange server	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
ActiveSync: rate of incoming changes from ActiveSync devices (changes\sec)	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
ActiveSync: rate of I/O request to Exchange server (requests/sec)	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
ActiveSync: rate of outgoing changes sent to ActiveSync devices (changes\sec)	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
ActiveSync: Total number of unrecognized requests since last service start	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
ActiveSync: Total number of users since last service start	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
Current number of ActiveSync users	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
Exchange ActiveSync logon failure: Bad Request	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Exchange ActiveSync logon failure: Forbidden	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Exchange ActiveSync logon failure: General Error	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Exchange ActiveSync logon failure: Internal Server Error	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
EAS logon failure: Server Busy	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Performance Collection Rule for Exchange ActiveSync logon latency	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.

Views for EAS Monitoring

The views for EAS monitoring are in the Operations Console Monitoring pane in the Microsoft Exchange Server\Exchange 2003\Active Sync node. The views for EAS monitoring are as follows:

• EAS Active Alerts
• EAS Logon Latency
• EAS Performance Data

The EAS Active Alerts view displays alerts generated by the EAS monitors and rules. For more information about an alert, see its properties in the Operations Manager 2007 Operations Console.

The EAS Logon Latency view displays performance data in graphical format for EAS logon latency. You do not need to wait for customers to call the help desk with mobile device logon issues. If the time it takes to log on is increasing, you can investigate the issue and resolve it before an alert is ever raised.

The EAS Performance Data view displays key performance data for the EAS servers in graphical form. Select the items you want charted, such as the rate of incoming changes from ActiveSync devices (changes\sec), for each managed front-end server.

Reports for EAS Monitoring

There are two reports provided with Operations Manager 2007 that can help you analyze trends in EAS for your Exchange environment: Availability and Performance. These reports are located in the Operations Console Reporting pane in Reporting\Microsoft Generic Report Library.

Are Customers Able to Access Their E-mail from Their Device Browsers?

The following monitors and rules verify the availability and performance of Outlook Mobile Access (OMA) on front-end servers running Exchange Server 2003. They perform synthetic OMA logons and monitor the results to determine OMA availability and performance. Different types of alerts are generated for different failures.

Monitors for OMA Monitoring

The monitors for OMA are as follows:

• Outlook Mobile Access Monitor
• Outlook Mobile Access Last Response Time Monitor

The Outlook Mobile Access Monitor performs a synthetic OMA logon, by default every 15 minutes, and verifies the health of OMA. If the monitor cannot log on and verify the health of OMA, it changes the state of OMA to critical and raises the following critical alert: "Exchange OMA monitor reported a problem."

The Outlook Mobile Access Last Response Time Monitor collects data, by default every five minutes, on the response time of the last OMA request in milliseconds. If the value is greater than the upper limit of the calculated baseline, the state of the object is set to warning and the following critical alert is raised: "OMA Last Response Time is outside of the calculated baseline." For more information about baseline monitoring and self-tuning thresholds, see "Self-Tuning Threshold Monitors in Operations Manager 2007" in the Operations Manager 2007 Help.

Key Rules for OMA Monitoring

There are approximately 70 rules to help you monitor the health of OMA. Following are a few of the more important rules for verifying the ability of customers to quickly access their Exchange e-mail messages with Internet Explorer.

Rule Name	Alert Properties
Outlook Mobile Access logon failure: ASP.net errors	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Outlook Mobile Access logon failure: Outlook Mobile Access configuration errors	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Outlook Mobile Access logon failure: Unable to connect	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Outlook Mobile Access logon failure: Wireless access is not enabled for the account	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
Performance Collection Rule for Outlook Mobile Access logon latency	Not applicable: This rule collects performance data; it does not generate alerts.
Unable to Connect to Exchange Server	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Critical

Views for OMA Monitoring

The views for OMA monitoring are in the Operations Console Monitoring pane in the Microsoft Exchange Server\Exchange 2003\Outlook Mobile Access node. The views for OMA are as follows:

• OMA Active Alerts
• OMA Logon Latency

The OMA Active Alerts view displays alerts generated by the OMA monitors and rules. For more information about an alert, see its properties in the Operations Manager 2007 Operations Console.

The OMA Logon Latency view displays performance data in graphical format for OMA logon latency. You do not need to wait for customers to call the help desk with issues related to accessing e-mail with their devices. If the time it takes to log on is increasing, you can investigate the issue and resolve it before your customers ever notice a problem.

Reports for OMA Monitoring

There are two reports provided with Operations Manager 2007 that can help you analyze trends in OMA for your Exchange environment: Availability and Performance. These reports are located in the Operations Console Reporting pane in Reporting\Microsoft Generic Report Library.

Does the Exchange Database Have Sufficient Free Disk Space?

Making sure the disks that host the Exchange databases have sufficient free space is critical to ensuring the availability of messaging services. The Disk Space Monitor targets the Exchange Database Store. It determines the remaining free disk space on logical volumes.

When the disk space is below a specified threshold, the state of the monitor is changed and the following critical alert is raised: "Disk Space Monitor reported a problem." Following are the properties, default thresholds, and the resulting health state for the monitor.

Property Monitored	Default Threshold	Health State
% Free for all drives	2% or less 5% or less	Error Warning
MB Free for all drives	400 MB or less 1000 MB or less	Error Warning
% Free on Queue drive	5% or less 20% or less	Error Warning
MB Free on Queue drive	1000 MB or less 5000 MB or less	Error Warning
% Free on Log drive	5% or less 20% or less	Error Warning
MB Free on Log drive	1000 MB or less 5000 MB or less	Error Warning

Key Rules for Monitoring Exchange Database Free Disk Space

There are over 200 rules to help you monitor the health of the Exchange database. The following table describes the most important rules for monitoring the free disk space.

Rule Name	Alert Properties
Low free disk space	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning
The database engine is rejecting update operations due to low disk space on the designated disk	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Critical
Very low free disk space	Event-based Priority: Medium Severity: Warning

Views for Monitoring Exchange Free Disk Space

The views for monitoring Exchange free disk space, referred to as "storage," are in the Operations Console Monitoring pane in the Microsoft Exchange Server\Exchange 2003\Storage node. The views for monitoring Exchange storage are as follows:

• Database Performance
• Database Storage Active Alerts
• Mailbox Average Messages
• Mailbox Average size in MB
• Mailbox Median Messages
• Mailbox Median size in MB
• Public Folder Average Message Count
• Public Folder Median Messages
• Public Folder Median size in MB

The Database Performance view displays key performance data for the Exchange Database in graphical format. Select the items you want charted, such as Database Table Opens / second, for each managed server running Exchange Server 2003.

The Database Storage Active Alerts view displays alerts generated by the Database Storage monitors and rules. For more information about an alert, see its properties in the Operations Manager 2007 Operations Console.

The remaining views provide performance data, also referred to as "numeric data," about mailboxes and public folders, such as the average size in megabytes (MB).

Reports for Monitoring Exchange Free Disk Space

The reports provided by the Exchange Management Pack are in the Operations Console Reporting pane in Reporting\Exchange Server 2003 (Monitoring).

The Exchange Management Pack provides a report titled "Exchange Disk Usage" to help you analyze the Exchange store disk space usage over time.

Is the Exchange Information Store Performing Normally?

The Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack provides numerous Microsoft Windows NT Performance-based threshold rules to help you monitor the availability and performance of your Exchange environment.

The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service and associated databases are important components in Exchange 2003. Exchange Server 2003 stores user mailboxes and public folders in messaging databases. Microsoft Exchange Information Store service maintains these databases, and it is vital to monitor this service to be informed about potential problem sources before they can affect the availability of the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service.

The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service relies on Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) to work with the actual database structures. Messaging databases are managed in storage groups and include transaction log files, a MAPI-based database file, and a streaming database. ESE uses transaction log files to store transactions that have been committed to memory, and it stores them in a persistent file without the overhead of performing a complex database operation. This approach ensures that no data is lost if there is an unexpected server shutdown. Later, transactions from the transaction log file are committed to the MAPI-based database file. For messages in Internet format that are received through the SMTP transport service, Exchange uses a streaming database to store the messages without the overhead of converting them to MAPI-based format. This is done later if a MAPI-based client, such as Microsoft Outlook, requests the message.

When monitoring the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service, you must also monitor ESE, because memory, transaction log files, and messaging databases make up the database. All these parts must be considered when planning administration and maintenance.

The following table lists the monitors that enable Operations Manager 2007 to provide performance data about Exchange Information Store instances:

Monitor Name	Description
IS RPC Latency	Remote procedure call latency in milliseconds for the past 1024 packets of data.
IS RPC Requests	The number of client requests that are currently being processed by the Information Store.
IS Virtual Bytes	The current size, in bytes, of the virtual address space the Information Store process is using.
LDAP Search Time	The time, in milliseconds, it takes the Information Store process to send an LDAP search request and receive a response.

Are My Message Queues Within the Normal Range?

The Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack provides numerous Windows NT Performance-based self-tuning threshold rules to help you monitor the availability and performance of your Exchange environment. In Operations Manager 2007, a self-tuning threshold monitor uses a learning process to determine the normal values for a specified performance counter object and sets the threshold levels based on the learned values.

Exchange queues are monitored by Operations Manager 2007 by using self-tuning thresholds. The SMTP Local Queue, for example, is monitored for a week to establish the baseline, during which time alerts are not raised. After the learning period, if a counter is outside the baseline an alert is raised.

A baseline can be reset by using overrides to disable and then enable the monitor. For more information about self-tuning thresholds, see "Self-Tuning Threshold Monitors in Operations Manager 2007" in the Operations Manager 2007 Help.

Viewing Information in the Operations Manager Console

After you import your Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack and give it at least one hour to gather data, you will begin to see monitoring data in the Operations Console. In the Monitoring pane, the Microsoft Exchange\Exchange 2003 folder contains views for your Exchange Server 2003 environments.

Views

Use the views provided with the Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack to understand the current availability, configuration, health, and performance of your Exchange environment. The Active Alerts, All Events, All Performance Data, and All Server State views provide a broad perspective of your Exchange environment and an indication of what requires your attention. The Topology view provides a graphical representation of your Exchange environment and the health of each component. The Exchange Management Pack also provides views specifically for these items:

• Active Sync
• Components (of Exchange)
• IMAPI4
• Mail Flow
• Mail Queues
• MAPI Logon
• Message Transfer Agent
• Outlook Mobile Access
• Outlook Web Access
• Overview (dashboard views of Exchange components)
• POP3
• Server Performance
• SMTP
• Storage

Tasks

The Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 includes general-purpose tasks targeted at the Exchange 2003 Role, such as starting the Exchange System Manager, and tasks for a specific component, and starting the SMTP service. You can use these tasks to help diagnose and resolve issues. Following are the tasks targeted at the Exchange 2003 Role:

Task Name	Task Description
Exchange System Manager	Starts the Exchange Server System Manager from the Operations Manager 2007 Operations Console. > [!NOTE] > Exchange Server System Manager must be installed on the computer on which the task is run. >
Install EXBPA	Installs the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer (EXBPA).
Query Local Domain Controllers	Lists local domain controllers and their status.
Start, stop, pause, and resume Exchange services.	Provides the ability to start, stop, pause, and resume Exchange monitored services, as supported by each Exchange service.

Reports

Use the reports provided with the Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack to understand trends in your Exchange environment over specified time periods, such as a week or year. Reporting is an optional component of Operations Manager 2007.

The following table lists the reports included with the Exchange 2003 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 and a description of what the report displays. There is also a table that contains the Report Targets for each report and if a performance collection rule needs to be enabled in order for the report to contain data. Note that several of these reports also require the Configuration Wizard to be run in order to contain data, for example the reports dealing with mailbox size.

Report Descriptions

Report	Description
Active Client Logons by Day	Provides a graph of the active client logons to Public Folder Stores during the specified time period. The graph indicates the minimum, maximum, and average active client logons based on the MSExchangeIS Public/Active Client Logons and MSExchangeIS Mailbox/Active Client Logons performance counters. If more than one information store is specified, the report will first average each counter for all the information stores. It is then possible to drill down to see one graph for each specified store and counter.
Client Logons Per Day	Provides a graph of the client logons to Mailbox and Public Folder stores during the specified time period. The graph indicates the minimum, maximum, and average active client logons based on the MSExchangeIS Public/Client Logons and MSExchangeIS Mailbox/Client Logons performance counters. If more than one information store is specified, the report will first average each counter for all the information stores. It is then possible to drill down to see one graph for each specified store and counter.
Exchange Disk Usage	Provides disk usage information for Exchange Server 2003 servers, based on the PhysicalDisk/Current Disk Queue Length, PhysicalDisk/Disk Reads/sec, and PhysicalDisk/Disk Reads/sec performance counters during the specified time period. If more than one server is specified, the report will first average the results for all the disks and servers. It is then possible to drill down to see one graph for each specified server and disk instance.
Exchange IMAP4 Usage	Summarizes the Internet Message Access Protocol 4 (IMAP4) usage rates, based on the MSExchangeIMAP4/LOGIN Rate and MSExchangeIMAP4/ UID Rate performance counters during the specified time period. If more than one server is specified, the report will first average the results over all servers for each counter. It is then possible to drill down to see one graph for each counter and server.
Exchange Information Store Usage	Summarizes internal Remote Procedure Call (RPC) operations against the Information Store by using the MSExchangeIS/ RPC Operations/sec and MSExchangeIS/ RPC Requests performance counters during the specified time period. If more than one server is specified, the report will first average the results over all servers for each counter. It is then possible to drill down to see one graph for each counter and server.
Exchange Mailbox Store Usage	Summarizes rates of operations in the Mailbox Store based on the MSExchangeIS Mailbox/ Messages Delivered/min, MSExchangeIS Mailbox/ Messages Sent/min and MSExchangeIS Mailbox/ Messages Submitted performance counters during the specified time period. If more than one server is specified, the report will first average the results over all servers for each counter. It is then possible to drill down to see one graph for each counter and server.
Exchange MTA Usage	Summarizes rates of operations in the Message Transfer Agent (MTA) based on the MSExchangeMTA/Message Bytes/Sec and MSExchangeMTA/Messages/Sec performance counters. If more than one server is specified, one graph per server is drawn.
Exchange POP3 Usage	Summarizes rates of Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) client usage and activity based on the MSExchangePOP3/RETR Rate and MSExchangePOP3/USER Rate performance counters. If more than one server is specified, the report will first average the results over all servers for each counter. It is then possible to drill down to see one graph for each counter and server.
Exchange Server Configuration	This report links to the default Operations Manager configuration changes report. It is possible to track configuration changes for the Exchange servers over the specified time period, from the initial discovery of the server roles. Note that the configuration changes apply only to the discovered server roles (as defined in the Management Pack) and changes to the attributes/properties of those roles.
Exchange SMTP Usage	Summarizes rates of Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) activity based on the SMTP Server/ Message Bytes Received/sec, SMTP Server/Message Bytes Sent/sec and SMTP Server/Messages Delivered/sec performance counters, providing information about mail flow through your organization. If more than one server is specified, the report will first average the results over all servers for each counter. It is then possible to drill down to see one graph for each counter and server.
Exchange WebMail Usage	Summarizes rates of Web Mail or Outlook Web Access (OWA) client usage and activity based on the MSExchange Web Mail/ Message opens per sec and MSExchange Web Mail/ Message sends (total) performance counters. If more than one server is specified, the report will first average the results over all servers for each counter. It is then possible to drill down to see one graph for each counter and server.
Highest Growth mailboxes	Summarizes the top 100 Exchange mailboxes in terms of size on each Exchange database in the organization. First, the results are displayed per database. It is then possible to drill down to see the size of each mailbox.
Highest Growth Public Folders	Summarizes the top 100 Exchange public folders in terms of size on each Exchange database in the organization. First, the results are displayed per database. It is then possible to drill down to see the size of each public folder.
MTA Work Queue Length by Day	Summarizes the MTA Work Queue Length for the given period by displaying the MSExchangeMTA/ Work Queue Length performance counter. If more than one server is specified, the report will first average the results over all servers for each counter. It is then possible to drill down to see one graph for each counter and server.
SMTP In: Top 100 Recipients by Message Count	Summarizes the Top 100 SMTP recipients (user@domain.com) by message count for the specified databases.
SMTP In: Top 100 Recipients by Size	Summarizes the Top 100 SMTP recipients (user@domain.com) by message size for the specified databases.
SMTP Out: Top 100 Senders by Message Count	Summarizes the Top 100 sender’s SMTP domains (@domain.com) by message count for the specified databases. This will include internal as well as external SMTP domains.
SMTP Out: Top 100 Senders by Size	Summarizes the Top 100 sender’s SMTP domains (@domain.com) by message size for the specified databases. This will include internal as well as external SMTP domains.
Top 100 Mailboxes by Message Count	Summarizes the top 100 mailboxes by message count for the specified databases.
Top 100 Mailboxes by Size	Summarizes the top 100 mailboxes by mailbox size for the specified databases.
Top 100 Public Folders by Message Count	Summarizes the top 100 public folders by public folder message count for the specified databases.
Top 100 Public Folders By Size	Summarizes the top 100 public folders by public folder size for the specified databases.

How to Run Reports

Report	Target Object Class Name (Group including Exchange Server Works)	Search For Objects Beginning With	Related Performance Collection Rules	Notes
Active Client Logons by Day	Exchange IS Service	Information Store	Public Folder Store: Active Client Logons Mailbox Store: Active Client Logons
Client Logons Per Day	Exchange IS Service	Information Store	Public Folder Store: Client Logons Mailbox Store: Client Logons
Exchange Disk Usage	Exchange 2003 Role	Server's Netbios Name	Current Disk Queue Length (All disks) Disk Reads /second (All disks) Disk Writes /second (All disks)
Exchange IMAP4 Usage	Exchange IMAP4 Service	IMAP4	IMAP4: Logons / second IMAP4: Unique Identifier (UID) commands / second
Exchange Information Store Usage	Exchange IS Service	Information Store	Remote Procedure Call (RPC) operations / second Performance Collection Rule for IS RPC Requests
Exchange Mailbox Store Usage	Exchange IS Service	Information Store	Mailbox Store: Messages Delivered / minute Mailbox Store: Messages Sent / minute Mailbox Store: Messages Submitted / minute
Exchange MTA Usage	Exchange MTA	MTA Stacks	Message Transfer Agent (MTA): Message Bytes / second Message Transfer Agent (MTA): Messages Processed / second
Exchange POP3 Usage	Exchange POP3 Service	POP3	POP3: Messages Retrieved (RETR) / second POP3: Logons (USER rate) / second
Exchange Server Configuration	Exchange 2003 Role	Server's Netbios Name
Exchange SMTP Usage	Exchange SMTP	SMTP	SMTP: Message Bytes Received / second SMTP: Message Bytes Sent / second SMTP: Messages Delivered / second
Exchange WebMail Usage	Exchange OWA	OWA	Outlook Web Access: Message Opens / second Outlook Web Access: Total Messages Sent	Only on front end servers
Highest Growth mailboxes	Exchange Database Storage	Exchange Storage	Performance Collection Rule to Collect Mailbox Statistics - Top Mailbox by Size	Performance collection rule runs daily.
Highest Growth Public Folders	Exchange Database Storage	Exchange Storage	Performance Collection Rule to Collect Public Folder Statistics - Public Folder by Size	Performance collection rule runs daily.
MTA Work Queue Length by Day	Exchange Database Storage	Exchange Storage	Performance Collection Rule for MTA Work Queue Length.
SMTP In: Top 100 Recipients by Message Count	Exchange Database Storage	Exchange Storage	Needs rule "Performance Collection Rule to Collect Message Tracking Log Statistics for Exchange Event Type 1004 - Top Destinations by Message Count" Enabled	Performance collection rule runs daily.
SMTP In: Top 100 Recipients by Size	Exchange Database Storage	Exchange Storage	Needs rule "Performance Collection Rule to Collect Message Tracking Log Statistics for Exchange Event Type 1004 - Top Destinations by Size" Enabled	Performance collection rule runs daily.
SMTP Out: Top 100 Senders by Message Count	Exchange Database Storage	Exchange Storage	Needs rule "Performance Collection Rule to Collect Message Tracking Log Statistics for Exchange Event Type 1003 - Top Senders by Message Count" Enabled	Performance collection rule runs daily.
SMTP Out: Top 100 Senders by Size	Exchange Database Storage	Exchange Storage	Needs rule "Performance Collection Rule to Collect Message Tracking Log Statistics for Exchange Event Type 1003 - Top Senders by Size" Enabled	Performance collection rule runs daily.
Top 100 Mailboxes by Message Count	Exchange Database Storage	Exchange Storage	Performance Collection Rule to Collect Mailbox Statistics - Top Mailbox by Message Count	Performance collection rule runs daily.
Top 100 Mailboxes by Size	Exchange Database Storage	Exchange Storage	Performance Collection Rule to Collect Mailbox Statistics - Top Mailbox by Size	Performance collection rule runs daily.
Top 100 Public Folders by Message Count	Exchange Database Storage	Exchange Storage	Performance Collection Rule to Collect Public Folder Statistics - Public Folder by Message Count	Performance collection rule runs daily.
Top 100 Public Folders By Size	Exchange Database Storage	Exchange Storage	Performance Collection Rule to Collect Public Folder Statistics - Public Folder by Size	Performance collection rule runs daily.