Planning for Features

  • Article

It is important to thoroughly understand which features you will need in order to support your line-of-business (LOB) applications. In most, if not all cases, prerequisite software has to be installed, and you should document these requirements in your project plan. For more information about software or hardware requirements, see the Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 Supported Configurations data sheet.

Some examples of MOM features include:

MOM-to-MOM Product Connector

Product connectors, which are implemented by the MOM Connector Framework (MCF), enable bi-directional alert forwarding and synchronization between multiple MOM instances and non-Microsoft management systems. This allows you to share data and resolve problems more easily across your organization.

To use this feature, you need to perform a custom installation that includes both MCF and the MOM-to-MOM Product Connector. Additionally, you need the following:

  • Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.1

  • Microsoft ASP.NET Windows component

For more information about deploying a multitiered environment, see Chapter 7 "Deploying MOM 2005 in Advanced Environments", in the Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Deployment Guide at https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=03594dca-da65-44eb-875f-0ab4928cbfbd\&displaylang=en.

For more information about Product Connectors for third-party applications, see the Management Pack and Product Connector Catalog at https://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/mom/mom2005/catalog.aspx.

File Transfer Server Response

The file transfer response is designed to facilitate transferring files to and from computers managed by MOM. For example, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) company is required to preserve a traffic log history for a specific amount of time. By using the file transfer feature, this company can centralize a log file repository, to which the companys proxy servers upload the latest data.

The file transfer server requires Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 or later to be installed on a server running either Microsoft Windows Server2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) or later, or Microsoft Windows Server 2003. You can use IIS to create a virtual directory that agent computers can use to download the MSSecure.cab file. To automatically download the MSSecure.cab file from Microsoft.com, the file transfer server must have Internet access.

Microsoft recommends that you choose one of the following types of servers as the file transfer server:

  • A dedicated server that is connected to the Internet.

  • The MOM Reporting server, which can be used as the file transfer server, if it is already connected to the Internet for Internet-based reporting functionality.

  • One or more Management Servers.

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) Management Pack

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) scans computers and reports on missing security patches, and other security vulnerabilities that are known to Microsoft. MBSA relies on an updated Mssecure.cab file that is downloaded from the Internet. To use this feature, install the MBSA Management Pack to ensure that the feature is managed by MOM.

Reporting

MOM 2005 reporting provides comprehensive and extensible reports for data collected by MOM 2005, and its Management Packs. MOM 2005 reporting fully utilizes SQL Server Reporting Services, and includes more than 100 predefined reports on monitored systems, applications, and environments. You can also transfer data to the reporting database for long-term trend data analysis.

To use the reporting feature, you will need to install SQL Server 2000 with Service Pack 3, the MOM Reporting component, and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services. You can install MOM Reporting on the same computer as SQL Server Reporting Services, or on a separate computer.

Note

The key to a successful MOM deployment is to start with a simple deployment. You can always add features later.