Something nice for MOM

I admit it. I’m a MOMma’s boy. And I’m not talking about the mom who keeps nagging me about a glaring lack of grandchildren. I’m talking about the MOM (Microsoft Operations Manager) designed to keep all my unruly Windows servers in line. MOM may have started a bit weak, but "Mommy 2005" has really come a long way from "Mother 2000," and not only Microsoft is working hard to leverage that maturity.

With a platform as broadly applicable as Windows server management, Microsoft did the smart thing and opened the door for third-party ISVs such as Opalis, NetIQ, and NetPro, to build add-on applications for MOM-managed infrastructures via the MOM Connector Framework.

One recent tangible example is Netuitive. Netuitive SI manages to out-automate even MOM 2005 by adding easily defined automatic threshold administration. You can set management alert thresholds on a number of new criteria, including granular system performance. But Netuitive claims the biggest payoff is a drastic reduction in false alerts.

Anyone who’s been around MOM 2005 knows it likes to talk just as much as any biological momma -- sometimes far too much. Instead of marital statuses, however, MOM prattles on about an endless string of minor server events. Event alerts for even midsize server farms can quickly escalate to hundreds or even thousands per day. Netuitive SI boasts the capability of dropping false alerts by as much as 99.5 percent, which is an ambitious claim. Yet even if the company can manage only two-thirds or even half that amount, it may still be a boon to some MOM infrastructures.

ISVs aren’t the only ones beefing up MOM. Microsoft is busy adding ever more management packs and add-on tools of its own. Right now, you can download the MOM 2005 Sizer tool, which provides recommendations for MOM server configurations based on user-defined workload models. Explain to Sizer how much your MOMmy has to lift, and Sizer will spit back the number of CPUs required, the amount of RAM that’s necessary, as well as required hard disk sizes; it will even recommended network utilizations. And it can do this not only for base MOM servers, but for back-end MOM Database and Reporting servers as well.

And don’t forget about the MOM 2005 Service Pack 1, which became available this month. For MOM 2005 users, this is a must-have download, providing support for both Windows Server 2003 SP1 and SQL 2000 SP4. It also provides improved support for x64 as well as some self-serving stuff about better monitoring of license usage. 

Those of you running smaller Windows server farms should really check out MOM 2005 Workgroup Edition. This version may or may not stay around long term, but for the moment, it’s definitely the easier road for smaller companies looking to leverage MOM 2005’s management blessings. It’s significantly simpler and less expensive to configure, mostly because you don’t need to configure MOM’s separate SQL reporting database: Workgroup Edition doesn’t support reporting. It also doesn’t support the MOM Connector Framework, which means third-party add-ons like Netuitive SI can’t help you either.

On the upside, though, it supports all of MOM’s other goodies, which means that server farms with 10 or fewer Windows machines can cuddle up to their Momma without the need for a host of consultant or ISV charges. MOM 2005 Workgroup Edition is meant to be configurable by mere sys admin mortals, although I’d highly recommend a test run or three before attempting to deploy this mother live.