Operations Manager 2007 is a product established on the concept of model-based management. The abstraction of services into models is necessary to describe and act on physical entities such as routers, and logical entities such as distributed applications, using software tools.
Using models is a way to transform knowledge and experience into something that machines can operate with. In OpsMgr, service models live inside management packs. The management pack author or vendor encapsulates service health knowledge into the management pack. A solid, accurate model of an object's health lets Operations Manager present information to the operator. The models underpin both the OpsMgr 2007 application, with a workflow framework, and the OpsMgr 2007 operator, with augmented and accelerated decision making.
OpsMgr 2007 introduces an architecture that sets the foundation for a new, broader spectrum of monitoring capabilities and extensible that has ever been available before using Microsoft management technologies. Fundamental concepts within OpsMgr 2007 include service and health modeling.
Want to know more about how OpsMgr works? The above is an excerpt from Chapter 3 of System Center Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed. You can buy the book (http://tinyurl.com/27mqnm is a link to the Amazon page). Chapter 3 in its entirety is provided as a sample chapter for download at http://sqlblog.com/blogs/sample_chapters/archive/2008/03/27/sample-chapter-system-center-operations-manager-2007-unleashed-chapter-3-looking-inside-opsmgr.aspx and http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=348819.
Kerrie Meyler, MVP, MCSE, MCTS, CNA, MA, BA, is an independent consultant and trainer with over fifteen years of experience in IT. While at Microsoft in Field Technical Sales for four years she focused on infrastructure and mangement, presenting at numerous product launches. Kerrie has presented Operations Manager 2007 at TechEd 2007 and MMS 2009 and at internal Microsoft conferences, receiving company recognition and awards including a SPAR MGS award. Kerrie worked with Microsoft Learning to develop functional specifications for the original Operations Manager Microsoft courseware, 2550: Implementing Microsoft Operations Manager 2000 and did the beta teach for that course.She also participated in the alpha walkthrough for the 70-400: Configuring Microsoft System Center Operations Manager certification exam.
She is the lead author of Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Unleashed, Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed, and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007 Unleashed. Kerrie is currently developing an eBook on Operations Manager 2007 R2.
Check out an excerpt from System Center Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed, Chapter 3: Looking Inside OpsMgr.
Kerrie's latest book, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007 Unleashed by Kerrie Meyler, Byron Holt, and Greg Ramsey has been selected as the August, 2009, Microsoft Subnet book giveaway (a $59.99 value). Check out an excerpt from System Center Configuration (SCCM) Manager 2007 Unleashed, Chapter 3: Looking Inside ConfigMgr.
Visit the Microsoft Subnet home page for giveaway details and entry forms.
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Is this something new?
Is this really something new? Other products have been doing this for years. Other vendors may call them certifications or modules or dynamic applications, but they've been there a long time. I guess it's welcome to the party Microsoft.
modeling ...
Good question and good points. Do remember though that this is the first version of the product that Microsoft actually wrote. MOM 2000 and 2005 were based on software acquired from NetIQ who had acquired Mission Critical Software, who wrote the original product. While Microsoft did a lot of work on strengthening management packs and the capacity of the product over their first two releases, it wasn't until Operations Manager 2007 that they actually rewrote the guts of the product, along with just about everything else.
Kerrie Meyler