Double-Take Management Pack for
Microsoft Systems Center Operations Manager 2007

October 30, 2008

© 2008 Double-Take Software, Inc. All rights reserved.

This readme file contains an overview and instructions for using the Double-Take® Management Pack for Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager 2007. This management pack is compatible with Double-Take versions 4.4 through versions 5.1.

Contents

1. Overview

2. Installation Notes

3. Customization of the Management Pack

4. Contact Information

1. Overview

Microsoft Systems Center Operations Manager 2007 (SCOM) is an enterprise class operations management system that provides event management, proactive monitoring and alerting, reporting and trend analysis, system and application specific knowledge, and configurable task responses to proactively respond to negative trends and alerts.

Management Packs are pre-configured collections of these capabilities focused on managing a specific application or hardware type, which can be easily exported and imported into other SCOM environments.

The Double-Take Management Pack was created to help customers monitor Double-Take operations and provides the following features.

    1.1. Event rules to monitor all Double-Take generated events-All Double-Take generated events that appear in the Event Viewer can trigger a SCOM alert. By default, only a subset of events are pre-selected to generate alerts, but additional alerts can easily be generated by enabling additional event rules.

    1.2. Performance rules for threshold violations-All Double-Take performance counters that appear in the Performance Monitor can generate a SCOM alert when the configured threshold is violated. Because every environment is unique, the performance thresholds are disabled by default. See Customization of the Management Pack for instructions on configuring the performance thresholds.

    1.3. Performance rules for performance monitoring-A subset of Double-Take performance counters can be graphically monitored in the Double-Take performance views, accessible from the SCOM console. These statistics illustrate key metrics, such as how much memory or disk space Double-Take is consuming and how much data is being transmitted.

    1.4. Vendor produced knowledge for alerts-Understanding why problems exist and how to fix them is an important part of operations management. The Double-Take Management Pack contains product knowledge for each alert, gathered from Double-Take Software Technical Support. Each alert will also provide information and links to external support.

    1.5. Double-Take specific views-Various Double-Take specific views are provided in the SCOM console.

      1.5.1. Alerts View-View only Double-Take alerts for computers with Double-Take installed.

      1.5.2. State View-View the server state for all Double-Take servers. You can also view the various properties of all Double-Take servers, including the overall server state.

      1.5.3. Events View-View Double-Take events for Double-Take servers.

      1.5.4. Performance Data View-View graphs of various performance counters for one or multiple computers, as defined in the performance rules.

2. Installation Notes

    2.1. The Management Pack is distributed as an .xml file that is imported via the SCOM console. From the SCOM console, click Administration or select Go, Administration. Right-click on the Management Packs line item in the left pane and select Import Management Pack. Navigate to the location of the Doubletake.xml file, and follow the steps in the Management Pack Import Wizard. See the Microsoft SCOM documentation for complete details.

    2.2. To improve the operation of the Double-Take Management Pack, you should have the following Management Packs installed.

      2.2.1. OpsMgr 2007 MOM 2005 Backward Compatibility MP Update-This Management Pack can be found on the Microsoft download site at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=655cdd06-861e-4342-99b2-8a81e09f6546&DisplayLang=en.

      2.2.2. System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Update-This Management Pack can be found on the Microsoft download site at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=0D7FC438-4EB9-496E-A664-54D43A577576&displaylang=en.

    2.3. The Double-Take Management Pack installs the following assets.

      2.3.1. Double-Take Product Version Attribute-This attribute checks the Double-Take product version and is used by the Double-Take Servers computer group.

      2.3.2. Double-Take Servers Group and Installation Type-This asset uses a formula and regular expression match on the Double-Take Product Version attribute to determine which servers have Double-Take installed.

      2.3.3. Double-Take Rules-Rules can be found under the Management Pack Objects section, and contains all of the rules that comprise the Management Pack. Performance Rules, Alert Rules and Event Rules are grouped together under the Rules category. (To see only Double-Take rules, change the scope of the Rules group and filter by Double-Take Servers Installation.)

      2.3.4. Double-Take views-Various views are available as described in Double-Take Specific Views above.

3. Customization of the Management Pack

Except for vendor produced product knowledge, all aspects of the Management Pack can be modified by the SCOM administrator. Use the following notes as suggestions for customization, and see your SCOM documentation for complete instructions.

    3.1. Threshold configuration-Because each server environment is different, the thresholds at which alerts should be generated will be different. To enable one of the pre-existing (but disabled) performance rules, right-click a performance rule and select Properties. On the General tab, enable Performance Rule. If you want to customize the threshold trigger, modify the threshold value on the Overrides tab.

    3.2. Multi-tier alerting-Although only one performance rule is provided for each performance counter, by copying that rule and changing the alert severity and threshold values, multi-tiered alerting is possible. For example, it is possible to generate a warning alert when 256MB memory is used for queuing and generate an error when 384MB is consumed. Threshold values can be modified on the Overrides tab. Alert severities can be modified on the Configuration tab, by highlighting the GenerateAlert entry and editing the XML data behind the rule. For more details, see your SCOM documentation.

    3.3. Enable additional event rules-By default, only a pre-selected group of events will generate alerts. If additional alerts are desired, enable additional Event Rules and verify the alert severity.

    3.4. Notifications-For each Double-Take Alert Rule, a notification response is pre-selected and will send the applicable message to the defined Recipients and notification Subscriptions. Notification and Subscription options in SCOM do not allow for pre-defined Double-Take notification groups. Therefore, it is required that the SCOM administrator create custom notification Recipients and Subscriptions. (Notification Groups previously used in MOM 2005 can be re-created in SCOM using the Subscriptions feature. For more information on Recipients and Subscriptions, refer to Operations Manager Help using the keyword Notifications.)

4. Contact Information

    4.1. Product Updates-Check your service agreement to determine which updates and new releases you may be eligible for. These updates can be obtained from the support website at support.doubletake.com.

    4.2. Sales-If you need maintenance renewal, an upgrade activation code, or other sales assistance, contact your reseller/distributor or a Double-Take Software sales representative. Double-Take Software contact information is available on the Double-Take Software web site at www.doubletake.com/company/contact-us/.

    4.3. Technical Support-Contact the technical support center identified on your service agreement. This is generally the reseller or distributor who you purchased your product from. If you do not have access to this agreement, contact Double-Take Software Technical Support and we can direct you to the correct service provider. To contact Double-Take Software Technical Support, you will need your serial number and activation code. For a complete list of technical support contact information, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses, visit the support page of the Double-Take Software web site at www.doubletake.com/support/.

    4.4. Documentation-Please forward any comments or suggestions about Double-Take Software documentation to [email protected].

Double-Take, GeoCluster, Double-Take for Virtual Systems, TimeData, netBoot/i, winBoot/i, Double-Take Cargo, sanFly, Livewire, NSI, Balance, Double-Take ShadowCaster, and associated logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Double-Take Software, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.

© 2008 Double-Take Software, Inc. All rights reserved.