MOM Gets a Major Face-Lift - ' Big Changes ' (
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Big Changes
The lack of legacy integration between MOM 2005 and SCOM 2007 is vexing, but it is also an indication of the sweeping code work that Microsoft has done to bring the old MOM into the new System Center family of management products.
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After we finished installing the SCOM 2007 beta, we got another indication of the magnitude of the differences between MOM 2005 and SCOM 2007: Gone is the tree-like MMC (Microsoft Management Console) that MOM used for years and that also is familiar to Microsoft Exchange Server and SQL Server administrators. SCOM 2007 instead has neatly laid-out dashboards and reports that we found more effective at presenting critical problem information. (And we've worked with MOM for many years now.)
Key to the newly improved dashboard layout is the addition of an advanced discovery capability. We found that this feature really shines when used in conjunction with Microsoft Active Directory.
During tests, the discovery tool trolled our Active Directory and allowed us to easily locate and bring under management all of the Windows servers and desktop systems in our test network. This is a big improvement over earlier versions of MOM in that SCOM 2007 makes it much easier to find systems and then begin the agent deployment process. Considering that all machines that are currently running agents for MOM 2005 must have the new SCOM 2007 agent installed as the first step in a transition between the two products, the new discovery process will reduce cutover work.
The initial discovery process is automated when using Active Directory, but it can also be targeted to find small groups of systems as they join the network.
We also used the advanced discovery tools to add individual systems, although this process wasn't nearly as easy as the initial discovery because of all the details we had to specify for SCOM 2007 (an issue with MOM 2005, as well).
Using the templates and design tools now included in SCOM 2007, it was easy to create and administer groups of machines, such as Exchange Sever 2003 and SQL Server 2005 systems.
We were able to display systems in a diagram layout that made it simple to see what machines in a particular management group needed attention.
The new diagram display takes the place of the Visio-based diagram interface that first appeared in MOM 2005, and it is much easier to use and more tightly integrated.
