MOM Agents: An Overview
The architecture of MOM consists of a variety
of components. Configuration data and operations data for MOM are
stored in SQL Server. MOM provides a data access service (DAS) that
controls access to the MOM database through a COM+ service
implementing a set of DCOM objects. One of the most important
components of the MOM architecture is the MOM agents, consisting of
remote and local agents to collect data and send it to the MOM
Management Server computer.
A remote MOM agent runs on every computer that is
monitored by an agent. Agents are either installed automatically by
the MOM server, which uses push installation, or manually on the
agent-managed computer. When monitoring is enabled, the MOM agent
collects event data, performance data, and other possible
indicators of problems on a managed computer. If a problem is
detected, the MOM agent generates an alert. The MOM agent also
discovers properties about the managed computer. When it finishes
collecting information, the MOM agent sends the operations data for
the managed computer to the MOM Management Server.
In addition
to collecting data, the MOM agent continuously sends heartbeat
messages to the MOM server to indicate that the MOM agent is
functioning on the managed computer. The communication between the
MOM agent and MOM server is always initiated by the agent. The
agent-server communication channel uses the TCP/IP protocol and
communications are secure, authenticated, and encrypted. In a
trusted Active Directory environment, communications are also
signed.
A local MOM agent is used to self-monitor the
Management Server computer. The differences in functionality
between the local agent and a remote agent are:
In this architecture, the MOM server functions as a
proxy between the DAS and all the MOM agents. The MOM server is
responsible for initiating computer discovery, push-installing the
MOM agents, sending and receiving configuration data from agents,
consolidating agent data, and writing data to the MOM database by
using the DAS. The MOM Management Server itself is a collection of
components that are installed on the same computer. The key
components are the DAS, MOM server, and MOM agent.
The MOM Management Server provides the following
services:
-
Provides data access services for the user
interface and the MOM runtime service
-
Installs, uninstalls, and manages the
lifetime of the MOM agent
-
Distributes configurations to remote
agents
-
Monitors the availability of managed
computers
-
Receives operations data submitted by the
agents
-
Processes operations data and inserts this
data in the MOM database
-
Monitors agentless managed computers
-
Self-monitors the MOM Management Server
Essentially, the agent acts as a service that runs
on every computer you want to monitor. The agent captures
information from the computer on which it is running, applies
predefined rules to the captured data, and performs actions as
defined by the rules. The agent deployment process involves the
following stages:
-
Identifying and creating a record of the
computers that you want to manage by using MOM agents
-
Preparing the event logs on these computers
for running MOM agents
-
Configuring MOM Management Server settings
for agent deployment
-
Creating Computer Discovery rules
-
Installing agents
-
Confirming that the agents are installed and
being managed
Now that we've reviewed the basics of the MOM
architecture and the role of MOM agents, let's take a look at how
MOM agents are configured and deployed.