How to Configure Client Access Server Synthetic Transactions Using the Exchange 2007 Client Access Server Monitoring Template

Applies To: Exchange Server, Operations Manager 2007 R2

When the Exchange Server 2007 Management Pack is imported, the Exchange 2007 Client Access Server Monitoring template is added to the templates in the Authoring pane in the Operations console.

Use the following procedure to configure client access synthetic transactions to ensure that you are able to connect to Exchange Server 2007 Client Access servers.

In very large environments, you can also create synthetic transactions using overrides. For instructions about creating synthetic transactions using overrides, see Appendix: Manually Configuring Synthetic Transactions.

To configure client access synthetic transactions

  1. Click the Authoring button in the Operations Console, and then click Add Monitoring Wizard.

  2. On the Select Monitoring Type page, select Exchange 2007 Client Access Server Monitoring, and click Next.

  3. On the General Properties page, do the following:

    1. Type the Name for the object, such as Client Access Server Monitoring for source server <Your server name>.

    2. Type a Description for the object (optional).

    3. Select a destination Management pack from the list, or click New to create a management pack using the Create a Management Pack Wizard.

      Note

      The object type will be added to the specified management pack; therefore, only unsealed management packs are listed. By default, when you create a management pack object, disable a rule or monitor, or create an override, Operations Manager saves the setting to the Default Management Pack. As a best practice, you should create a separate management pack for each sealed management pack you want to customize, rather than saving your customized settings to the Default Management Pack. For more information, see Customizing Management Packs (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=140601).

    4. Click Next.

  4. On the Source Server page, select the Exchange organization where the tests will occur, and then click Select.

    Note

    The source server and the target server for the client access tests must be in the same Exchange organization and site. The “Exchange organization” in this context is actually the root domain of the forest where the Exchange organization is installed. It does not represent the Exchange organization name as entered when Exchange was installed.

  5. On the Select a Source Server page, click Search for a list of available servers. Select a server in the list, and then click OK.

  6. Click Next.

    Note

    The management pack runs the synthetic transaction on the source server you designate. The target server is the server where the test mailboxes are hosted. Available target servers are limited to Exchange 2007 mailbox servers residing in the same Active Directory site as the Client Access server specified as the source server and are monitored by this management group.

  7. On the Test Settings page, specify the Test frequency value. This value sets the interval between synthetic transaction runs. Specify a value between 5 and 60 minutes.

    Important

    Ensure that the test frequency you specify is more than two times greater than the time-out value you specify in the next step. That way, the test has enough time to complete before the next test starts. (As you calculate these values, ensure that you take into account the fact that the test frequency is measured in minutes and the test time-out is measured in seconds. You can do this by converting the test frequency into seconds just for the purpose of the calculation. After you decide on the appropriate settings, check that you convert the test frequency back to minutes to ensure that the value you enter is measured in minutes.) The template automatically enforces this.

  8. Specify the Time-out value, select one or more synthetic transaction types, and then click Next.

    Important

    The time-out value specifies the service level objective by which the transaction should complete. The synthetic transaction actually runs longer than the time-out value that you specify in order to collect data to determine how much over the limit it was. After two times the time-out value, the synthetic transaction terminates and exits. Specify a value between 10 and 1,200 seconds.

    Note

    Since synthetic transactions are an extra load on the Exchange 2007 servers, carefully consider your selection of synthetic transaction types. For example, you might consider configuring synthetic transactions for POP3 or IMAP, but not both, because they use similar protocols on Exchange Client Access servers. Likewise, Outlook Web Access (OWA), internal, external, and web services use the same protocols on the Client Access server. You might consider configuring synthetic transactions for only one of these for performance reasons.

  9. On the Target Servers page, click Add to add the Exchange 2007 mailbox role server that hosts the user mailbox used in the transaction test.

  10. On the Select Target Servers page, search for available target servers, select the servers you want, and then click Add.

  11. The servers you added in the previous step are displayed. Click OK.

  12. Click Next.

  13. On the Summary page, review the settings, and click Create.

Note

You can specify only a single time-out value for each run of the template. To specify a different time-out value for a specific test, such as Outlook Web Access (OWA) Connectivity, run the template again using the new time-out value while selecting only the OWA Connectivity test type.

Note

Each run of the template results in the creation of a class per test type. This impacts the memory usage of the Root Management server in very large environments where you run the Client Access server Monitoring template wizard more than 100 times. For very large environments, we recommend that you use overrides to create the synthetic transactions directly. For more information about enabling Client Access server synthetic transactions using overrides, see Appendix: Manually Configuring Synthetic Transactions.

Guidelines for Selecting an Appropriate Destination Management Pack

The output of the template is stored in a destination management pack that you choose. The following guidelines can help you make your choice for the right destination management pack for the output of the template.

  • Plan logical groupings of synthetic transactions. Plan to group synthetic transactions in management packs so that it will be easy later for you to find a particular synthetic transaction.

  • Use descriptive names for the destination management packs. Name your destination management packs in ways that describe the synthetic transactions contained in the management pack.

  • Use caution if you store all synthetic transactions in one management pack. When you make a change to a synthetic transaction within a management pack, the whole management pack is redistributed to every server that has a transaction defined in the management pack. If you anticipate making frequent changes to synthetic transactions, it is better to group the transactions logically in management packs so that the management pack where you made the change is then redistributed only to the servers involved in the transactions.

  • Do not store each synthetic transaction in a separate management pack. While it is possible to do this, we recommend against the practice of storing each synthetic transaction in a separate management pack because the number of such management packs can grow into the hundreds, eventually having a negative impact on the Operations Manager 2007 environment.