·         Windows Server 2008 R2 support

·         Active Directory Web Services (ADWS) for Windows Server 2008 R2, as well as the Active Directory Management Gateway Service for Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, and Windows Server 2008 support

·         Updates to existing functionality around Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 migration, monitoring of operations master roles (also known as flexible single master operations (FSMO) roles), performance monitors, and log size and database size monitors

·         Revamped deployment and usage guide

The new ADMP can be downloaded from here and is also available via the Operations Manager MP Catalog.  If you have any questions and/or feedback on the new MP, feel free to post them in the comments.

What is client monitoring?

The purpose of client monitoring is to monitor Active Directory from the perspective of a client. Aside from client monitoring, the ADMP monitors Active Directory by monitoring the domain controllers directly using scripts and monitors that execute on the domain controller. Client monitoring determines the health of Active Directory indirectly by performing operations similar to those used by clients and member servers joined to the domain. In this way, client monitoring evaluates Active Directory from the perspective of a client.

What does client monitoring do?

As mentioned above, client monitoring gives you a window into the health of Active Directory from the perspective of the client machines in your environment.  However, what specifically does client monitoring do?  Here’s a quick list of the monitoring capabilities:

·         Client ADSI Bind and Search Time:  Time required to perform a search for the domain controller

·         Client Alerts: Displays alerts that are thrown by the client monitoring component (configurable)

·         Client GC Search Time: Time required to perform a search of the Global Catalog (GC)

·         Client LDAP Ping and Bind: Time required for the client to ping and bind to the PDC

Why should I deploy client monitoring?

As mentioned above, there’s a set of items that are checked by client monitoring.  But how do these correspond to the health of your environment?  Here’s a quick summary of how these items can help you maintain a healthy environment:

·         Gives you the unique view from the client perspective that other monitoring does not cover.  For example, if it is taking a long time for clients to search for the DC, GC, or PDC, clients could be timing-out when trying to contact these servers.

·         Allows you to monitor the health of any key clients that are running (or depend on) critical applications

·         Extends the ADMP reporting infrastructure to include information provided by clients

How can I deploy client monitoring?

For detailed instructions on deploying client monitoring, please see the ADMP guide that is included in the ADMP install package.  However, before you deploy, it might be helpful to consider your deployment strategy in regards to which clients you are deploying to.  Since client monitoring will utilize resources on the client machines, network bandwidth, and additional resources on the MOM/SCOM server, client monitoring should only be enabled on clients that will be representative of the environment you’re monitoring.  For example, instead of deploying client monitoring to all machines in a specific site, deploy it to one or two clients that will represent the characteristics (i.e. connectivity, latency, and availability) of that site.

If you have any additional questions on client monitoring (or would like me to dig deeper into a specific area), feel free to leave feedback in the comments and I will be happy to respond.

·         Is there a specific piece of functionality that you’re dying to have that the current MP doesn’t provide?

·         Does a specific piece of the MP work in a way that drives you crazy and you would like to see changed?

·         Would you like to see a change in how a specific monitor is implemented?

If you have any feedback or suggestions, I encourage you to leave them in the comments of this posting.  We’re committed to reviewing every piece of feedback so this is your chance to get your ideas in!

Also, just in case you’re wondering, we do not yet have a timeline for the next version of the ADMP.  However, we’ll definitely post the information to the blog as soon as it’s locked down.

Thanks!

Scott

You can download the newest version from here.

Over the next few weeks, I am going to expand on the documentation in the guide. I fully expect to walk through a number of examples anf scenarios, such as configuring replication monitoring, deploying client perspective monitoring, and running reports.

Taking a look at the various version of the ADMP out there, we have:

• ADMP 2005 RTW (Released in 2006/2007)
• ADMP 2005 SP1 (Coming in late Q2FY08)
• ADMP 2007 RTW (Released in late 2008)
• ADMP 2007 Q1 (Released in Q1FY08)
• ADMP 2007 SP1 (Expected for Q3FY08)

Since this blog is dedicated to the ADMP for Ops Mgr 2007, we will likely spend most of the time talking about it, but issues regarding the ADMP for 2005 may still be discussed. If you are having issues with the ADMP or have general question, you are encouraged to post them at: http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=1752&SiteID=17. However, questions about a particular post can be asked in the comments section for that post.

In the coming posts, we will talk about what scenarios we target in the various version of the ADMP, how to monitor, etc etc. More to come!