The document provides an overview of SCOM (System Center Operations Manager), highlighting its benefits, installation tips, and monitoring capabilities. It discusses common misconceptions about SCOM, reasons for its underutilization, and details on monitoring services like synthetic transactions and global service monitoring. The presenter, Erik Gilreath, emphasizes the importance of proper planning and execution to leverage SCOM's full potential.

1. SCOM – The Unsung Hero of
the System Center Suite

2. Quick Facts
About Us
• 23rd Year
• Grand Rapids &
Royal Oak
• 30 Staff
Approach
• Vendor
Independent
• Non-reseller
• Professional
Services Only
Partnerships
• Microsoft Gold
• VMware
Enterprise
• Citrix Silver
• Cisco Premier
• Novell Gold

3. Microsoft Gold Partner
Competencies
Four Gold
Eight Silver
Successes
Customer
Excellence Award
Virtual Technical
Specialist (VTSP)
Managed Partner
Numerous Partner
Awards
Pinpoint
Microsoft’s official
partner directory
5-star rating

4. Expertise

5. Get Social with C/D/H
facebook.com/cdhtech@cdhtweetstech
www.linkedin.com/company/cdh

6. Today’s Agenda
• Brief overview of SCOM
• Some real-life experiences with SCOM
• Why SCOM is so rarely installed
• SCOM installation tips
• Setting up email alerting
• Monitoring services with SCOM
• Using Synthetic Transactions to monitor
website performance
• Global Services Monitoring
• System Center Advisor
• Network Monitoring

7. Your Presenter
Erik Gilreath
MCSE, MCITP, CNE, CCNA, CCDA, CCA, CCEA
• Consultant with C/D/H
• Currently focusing on System
Center, infrastructure and
virtualization
• Been with C/D/H since 1999
erikg@cdh.com

8. What is SCOM

9. What SCOM is NOT

10. Why SCOM is so rarely installed
• First iterations were less than stellar
• Easy to install poorly
• More complicated than it looks
• Poor planning
• Not understanding what SCOM really does
• Bad reputation from people who did it
wrong

11. Why it’s a mistake not to install:
SCOM in real life
• Notifications of system issues
• Notifications of possible problems
• Alerts of performance issues
• Correct issues with the use of scripts
• Generates help desk tickets

12. SCOM Installation Tips
• Decide ahead of time what MPs to install
– Exchange / IIS / SharePoint / SQL / etc
• Install one MP at a time
– Let it bake a week or two
– Start with Windows Core
– Create custom MP for each installed MP for
overrides
– Name each custom MP with the same starting
letters
• Alert Monitors vs. Alert Rules

13. Email Alerting
• Configure a Channel
• Configure Subscribers
• Configure Subscriptions
– Group
– Class
– Severity
– Specific test
– Etc…

14. Monitoring Services

15. Monitoring Services

16. Synthetic Transactions
• Real time actions performed on monitored
objects
– Test website responsiveness
– Monitor database performance
– TCP port monitoring

17. Global Service Monitoring
• Azure based service that ties into SCOM
• Available free to any with Software
Assurance
• Monitors from both inside and outside
– Monitor applications from 15 different locations
• Two kinds of monitors
– Web Application Availability
– Visual Studio Web Tests

18. Global Service Monitoring -
Installation
• Signup for GSM:
https://orgaccount.microsoft.com/signup?offerIds=BE2A46EF-0639-43a4-8323-BB5E1D4340D3
• If doing Visual Studio tests, import the Alert
Attachment MP:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj899889.aspx
• Import the GSM MPs into OpsMgr 2012 SP1
• Configure GSM in OpsMgr 2012 SP1 with
your GSM account
• Start configuring tests!

19. Web Application Availability Monitor
• Test is defined as one URL from one
Location
• One test every 5 minutes is the most
frequent interval
• Total tests = # tests * # locations
• Total tests cannot exceed 25 per
subscription

20. Visual Studio Web Tests
• Test is defined as one .webtest file
• One test every 5 minutes is the most
frequent interval
• Total tests = # tests times # locations
• Total tests cannot exceed 25 per
subscription
• Microsoft Visual Studio Ultimate 2012 or
Visual Studio Ultimate 2010 required to
view test results

21. System Center Advisor
• Cloud-based service that examines your
Microsoft-based installations
• Available free to everyone
• Alerts generated due to improper
configuration, potential issues, missing
patches, or simply straying from best
practices
• Remediation recommendations based on
a compilation of thousands of MS Support
cases

22. How System Center Advisor works
SERVER
CONFIGURATIONS
Microsoft Servers
BEST PRACTICES
& RECOMENDATIONS

23. Network Device Monitoring
What SCOM delivers
• Out of the box discovery,
monitoring, and reporting
• Memory utilization, processor
utilization, port traffic volume,
port error analysis & port
packet analysis
• Server to network
dependency discovery
• Support large number of
device vendors

24. Royal Oak
306 S. Washington Ave.
Suite 212
Royal Oak, MI 48067
(248) 546-1800
Grand Rapids
15 Ionia SW
Suite 270
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
(616) 776-1600
Thank You
www.cdh.com