Architecture Overview

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Architecture Overview

This section is an introduction to the logical architecture of Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) and the recommended network architecture for implementing MOM to monitor the Hosted Messaging and Collaboration infrastructure.

MOM Architecture

Microsoft Operations Manager is a 32-bit application designed for the Windows Server 2003 R2 operating system platform. To perform effective monitoring and management, MOM is based on the Microsoft distributed multi-tier architecture:

  • Presentation - The presentation layer consists of the MOM Administrator Microsoft Management Console (MMC), the Web console, and MOM Reporting.
  • Business logic - The business logic layer consists of agents, Consolidators, associated Agent Managers, and the Data Access Server (DAS). The DAS provides centralized database access and query logic, and communications between the interfaces in the presentation layer and the components in the data layer.
  • Data - The various Windows Server 2003 R2 data sources and the repository database make up the data layer.

The following figure illustrates the Microsoft Operations Manager architecture.

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Figure: Microsoft Operations Manager architecture

Administrators access the information in MOM and configure their rules and policies using one of two Microsoft Management Consoles (MMC): Operations Console or Administrators Console. To view Alerts, a service provider uses the Operations Console in MOM 2005. To configure the monitoring system, a service provider uses the Administrators Console. These administrative utilities use the DAS as the intermediary to the Microsoft Operations Manager database, just like the Consolidator and agents. A Web interface for the Operations Console is available.

MOM Components and Interfaces

The architecture of MOM consists of product components and interfaces. Components provide functionality, and interfaces provide access to the collected data and configuration functionality.

MOM consists of the following components and interfaces:

Cc539179.arrowblueright(en-us,TechNet.10).gif Agent
A service that runs on each computer that you want to monitor. An agent captures information from a remote computer, applies processing rules to the collected information, and sends the processed information to a Consolidator.
Cc539179.arrowblueright(en-us,TechNet.10).gif Consolidator
A service that runs on a select number of computers in your enterprise. A Consolidator includes an associated Agent Manager component that installs, uninstalls, and configures agents. A Consolidator also acts as an agent on the computer on which the Consolidator is installed. Consolidators send collected information to a DAS.
Cc539179.arrowblueright(en-us,TechNet.10).gif Data Access Server (DAS)
A service that runs on a select number of computers in your enterprise. The DAS controls the flow of data between the database, Consolidators, the Microsoft Operations Manager Administrator console, and the Web console.
Cc539179.arrowblueright(en-us,TechNet.10).gif Database
A repository for configuration information and collected data for a configuration group.
Cc539179.arrowblueright(en-us,TechNet.10).gif Web Console Server
A component installed on a computer running Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) that hosts the Web console.
Cc539179.arrowblueright(en-us,TechNet.10).gif Microsoft Operations Manager Administrator Console
A component installed on a computer running IIS that hosts the Web console.
Cc539179.arrowblueright(en-us,TechNet.10).gif Data Access Server, the Consolidator, and Agent Manager (C/AM)
The term central computer, or DCAM, refers to the combination of the Data Access Server (DAS) and the Consolidator and Agent Manager (C/AM) components residing on one physical server. Microsoft Operations Manager does not support the separation of DAS and C/AM components on multiple servers.
Cc539179.arrowblueright(en-us,TechNet.10).gif Web Console
A browser-based console that allows you to view operations data stored in the database from any Windows-based environment that can run Microsoft Internet Explorer. The Web console provides remote monitoring and easy access for roaming administrators.

Hosted Messaging and Collaboration Architecture

In addition to the core components of MOM, Hosted Messaging and Collaboration provides:

Cc539179.arrowblueright(en-us,TechNet.10).gif  Hosted Messaging and Collaboration Management Packs
A bundle of selected rules that monitor critical services in the Hosted Messaging and Collaboration platform. This set of management packs is designed to help you deploy MOM with rules for monitoring core platform servers in one to two business days. The processing rule groups imported with these management packs allow you to monitor:
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Base Operating System
  • Exchange Server 2007
  • Active Directory directory service events, alerts, and performance
  • SQL Server events, alerts, and performance
  • Microsoft Provisioning System (MPS) events, alerts, and performance
  • DNS events, alerts, and performance
  • Microsoft Windows Network Load Balancing
Cc539179.arrowblueright(en-us,TechNet.10).gif Hosted Exchange Management Pack
The Hosted Exchange Management Pack contains over 100 rules organized within a comprehensive set of rule groups for monitoring critical aspects of your Hosted Exchange service. The parameters of each rule have been optimized to meet typical service provider needs.

The best way to view all available rules and up-to-date knowledge base content for any management pack, including any custom rules you may have chosen to add, is to view the Knowledge Base content through the MOM Administration Console. Note that the Hosted Messaging and Collaboration infrastructure, including MOM, must be in place before this Management Pack can be imported.

For more information about the Hosted Exchange Management pack, see Plan Monitoring for Hosted Exchange.