Free updates have shipped for the Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) event- and performance-monitoring server product. Service Pack 1 (SP1) for MOM could improve the product's performance and availability; it also expands MOM's support for languages other than English and improves its ability to monitor server clusters. The new MOM Resource Kit and an updated SDK will help administrators and ISVs develop new monitoring rules and scripts. The releases come on the eve of a conference that could fill gaps in Microsoft's management software roadmap.

MOM monitors Windows server computers for relevant events (which it stores in a central database) and can take corrective actions automatically based on administrator-supplied rules and scripts. The product includes a Base Management Pack containing rules and scripts for monitoring Windows operating system services, including Active Directory and Internet Information Server (IIS). Microsoft also offers an Application Management Pack for monitoring server products such as Exchange and SQL Server. (For more information, see "Operations Manager Provides Crucial Infrastructure Support" on page 3 of the Sept. 2001 Update.)

Service Pack 1

Major improvements in MOM SP1 include the following:

Server farm and .NET Framework coverage. SP1 delivers an updated Base Management Pack with rules for monitoring the Windows Network Load Balancing service (frequently used to distribute traffic across Web farms) and Cluster Service (used for failover of mission-critical applications and databases). Both services enable improved system availability and performance through clustering. MOM SP1 also can monitor the Common Language Runtime (CLR), a critical component of the .NET Framework run time system.

Performance and availability improvements. According to Microsoft, performance improvements in SP1 will enable companies to double the number of monitored servers per MOM server. With SP1 installed, the MOM database can also run on clustered servers (using Windows Cluster Service), potentially improving its availability.

Thirty additional languages. MOM can now monitor servers running non-English versions of Windows, and MOM itself can run on non-English platforms. This feature could make MOM more useful in multinational organizations, but many parts of the management packs (e.g., the monitoring rules for SQL Server) still work with English only. Also, MOM still does not support cross-language management (e.g., a MOM server running on an English version of Windows cannot monitor a server set up for Simplified Chinese).

With SP1, the MOM database can coexist with other databases on the same server; this could prove particularly useful in combining MOM with Systems Management Server, Microsoft's software distribution and configuration product, which also maintains a database.

Resource Kit and SDK

The new MOM Resource Kit delivers three notable utilities:

• An emulator that enables administrators to debug MOM rules in a lab environment
• A tool for replaying Windows event logs, enabling administrators to test rules that process Windows events
• A Server Status Monitor console plug-in, which enables administrators to monitor the up-or-down status of services on up to 10 servers without installing the MOM agent (or buying a MOM license) for those servers.

Software vendors creating management packs or management applications (e.g., trouble ticket systems that import data from MOM) will also want to investigate the updated MOM SDK, which documents the new SP1 database views and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) interfaces for accessing MOM data, such as alerts.

MOM Awaits Near-Term Roadmap

Microsoft intends to unify MOM with its other management products into a single Server Manager platform by 2005. (See "Management Roadmap Revealed" on page 3 of the June 2002 Update.) However, it has not said how customers will be able to get to that platform from current management products.

A clearer roadmap could come at the next Microsoft Management Summit, scheduled for Mar. 18–21, 2003, in Las Vegas, NV. At that conference, Kirill Tatarinov, vice president of Microsoft's Management Business Group, will get his first chance to lay out the company's plans. Joining Tatarinov will be Rick Devenuti, Microsoft's CIO, who will explain how the company uses its own management software internally.

Availability and Resources

SP1 has been rolled into the base MOM product, and it will ship automatically to customers who bought MOM through a Select or Enterprise Agreement. Other customers can order SP1 on CD-ROM free of charge (registration with valid product ID is required) at Microsoft's Web site. The Resource Kit and SDK are free downloads at the site (registration required).

The Microsoft Operations Manager Web site is www.microsoft.com/mom.

The Microsoft Management Summit 2003 site is www.microsoft.com/management/mms.asp.