Things to Consider When Rolling out System Center OpsMgr 2007 R2
The following are best practices in Implementing and Administratering OpsMgr 2007 R2:
► Deploy Operations Manager components on Windows 64-bit and SQL 64-bit for optimal performance.
► Use SQL Enterprise whenever possible to improve database performance, especially for the ACS components.
► Run the prerequisite checker before installing components and remediate all findings, including warnings.
► Take future expansion and relevance of hardware into account when sizing servers for OpsMgr deployment.
► Use a dedicated instance of SQL Reporting Services for Operations Manager reporting.
► The directory that hosts the OpsMgr agent queue and log files should be excluded from the antivirus and defragmentation applications.
► Keep the installation of OpsMgr on a separate server or set of separate dedicated member servers that do not run any other separate applications.
► Start with a single management group and add additional management groups only if they are absolutely necessary.
► Use a dedicated service account for OpsMgr.
► Allocate adequate space for the databases depending on the length of time needed to store events and the number of managed systems.
► Monitor the size of the OpsMgr database to ensure that it does not increase beyond the bounds of acceptable size.
► Leverage the reporting database to store and report on data over a long period.
► Modify the grooming interval to aggressively address environmental requirements.
► Do not modify the Performance Signature grooming interval, as this throws off the baseline calculations.
► Configure the management group to automatically approve manual agents.
► Ensure that the key OpsMgr components are backed up on the recommended schedules.
► When tuning, err on the side of fewer alerts. If nothing will be done about an alert, make sure it doesn’t send a notification email.
This posting is 1 of a monthlong series of postings on the Microsoft System Center family of products. This is an excerpt from my book “System Center Enterprise Unleashed” with more postings on the System Center family of products up at http://www.networkworld.com/community/morimoto
