SCOM Zombie PSA#6: Out of here for a week

     Well, just when I started this, I have to play low for a while. I’ll be attending a certification class all next week, need to pass it since it is a big deal.

SCOM Zombie PSA #5: Alternative Monitoring with RSS Feeds

 

     Most people monitor their systems via the GUI or Web console. Me being a little GEEKIER than others, I looked to an alternative option for monitoring alerts when having either console isn’t an option for moment. My primary monitoring is via the RSS Feed through my Outlook. Since my Outlook is open all the time and is the heaviest application used in my daytime job. When I see there is an unread update, I know there is a new alert I need to look at.

     Typically if you subscribe via the Internet Explorer it should, in theory automatically apply to your Outlook; if not you’re fully available to manually add the desired feed link in by adding the feed URL.

((( Yes a Transformer’s Fan boy ))))

 

     For you newbie zombies, the RSS Feed button is located on the monitoring tab. But how many of you really use this feature?

     You can simply subscribe and save the feed just like a URL being added into your browser.

Which looks like this for the most part in the browser.

    

     Now lets configure the RSS Feed to automatically update. You’ll need to open the “Internet Options” & navigate to the “Content”  tab and click on the “Feeds and Web Sites”', “Settings” button. For me I’ve set it up for the lowest possible, 15 minutes. This is great for me at my day job, since I can spend a large portion of my day dealing with emails.

     If you have any RSS Reader you can also use that application for monitoring as well. At home I’ve used one for my tablet, just to see if I could, and it did; just wasn’t the best monitoring for me. But RSS feeds are just the tip of monitoring alternatives.

     If you know other way to monitor your systems, please comment, love to hear them.

SCOM Zombie PSA #4: Show Or Hide Views

     Sometime your Operations Manager GUI console can be a little cluttered with folders and views. Both at home and my place of work, I only display folders that I need to looks at. This can be extremely helpful when you have lots of management packs installed on your system.
     It’s nothing new, but I think it may be over looked. Just above the Monitoring tab there is a clickable link called “Show or Hide Views…”
     A window will popup and allow you to choose what view trees (Folders) you would like to be displayed in your console.
     And presto there you have it, only the view trees that I selected. There isn’t anything difficult about this.

SCOM Zombie PSA #3: MMS 2011 Conference Session DVD Set

     I’ve been waiting for this DVD set for a while now, and even more since I’ve heard others were getting theirs. But I guess my love one brought it to my attention, and like any good husband, I tuned the vital information out. So when I brought it up she told me yes, you have a TechNet CD in the mail pile.
     WOW!!! no wonder why I tuned the information out, I’m not expecting any TechNet software. But that is all beans. So if you have no gotten yours yet, here is what is inside.

     Well, I am off to explore this while I am adding three new VMs to my network for fun.

SCOM Zombie PSA #2: SCOM Zombie 101+ Resources

     Here is my hard hitting resource lists that I am using to better my skills with Operations Manager. There are other resources out there, but these are what I am aware of know. If you have any updates on the below information or your input on missing information please comment on and I’ll try to keep this list up to date as much as I can.
Hardcopy & Digital Publications:

1. System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Unleashed by Kerrie Meyler, Cameron Fuller, John Joyner and Andy Dominey.
2. System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Unleashed Supplement by Kerrie Meyler, Cameron Fuller, John Joyner and Andy Dominey.
3. Mastering System Center Operations Manager 2007 by Brad Price, John Paul Mueller and Scott Fenstermacher

Online Publications:

1. System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Product Documentation
2. Operations Manager 101
3. The TechNet Library for SCOM 2007
4. The TechNet wiki

Online Learning & Resources:

1. Microsoft E-Learning
2. TechNet Operations Manager 2007 Learning Resources
3. System Center Operations Manager 2007 Technical Walkthrough
4. Microsoft’s Events and Webcasts
5. System Center Operations Manager “How Do I?” videos
6. YouTube: OpsMgr 
7. YouTube: System center Operations Manager
8. Exchange Monitoring with Operations Manager

Management Pack & Tools:

1. Microsoft System Center Marketplace
2. My IT Forum’s Operations Manager Downloads
3. System Center Central Management Pack Catalog
4. System Center Central OpsMgr Downloads
5. Operations Manager 2007 R2 Sizing Helper
6. Operator Basics Superflow
7. SCOM R2 Admin Resource Kit

Microsoft Connect:

1. OpsMgr Feedback Center

Forums:

1. Microsoft TechNet's Forums List
2. System Center Operations Manager Tech Center
3. My IT Forum
4. System Center Central's Forums List
5. System Center Center Operations Manager Forums

Blogs:

1. Lynne Taggart's OpsMgr Zombie
2. Kevin Holman's System Center Blog
3. Marnix Wolf’s Thoughts on OpsMgr
4. Jonathan Almquist on Operations Manager
5. Bob Cornelissen’s BICTT
6. Boris Yanushpolsky's OpsMgr++
7. Björn Axéll’s Adisec Blog
8. Matt Goedtel on Operations Management
9. The System Center Operations Manager Support Team Blog
10. Steve Rachui's Manageability blog - ConfigMgr/OpsMgr
11. Scott Moss at myITforum.com
12. System Center Central Operations Manager blogs
13. Timothy McFadden’s Everything System Center Operations Manager 2007
14. Anders Bengtsson’s Microsoft System Center
15. Stefan Stranger's Weblog - Manage your IT Infrastructure
16. Eugene Bykov’s System Center Operations Manager Reporting
17. Marco Shaw's blog on Microsoft Windows Powershell
18. Ian Blyth’s System Center Technologies
19. Lynn Lunik’s On Windows Core Infrastructure
20. Robert's Thoughts on SCOM

SCOM Zombie PSA #1: SCOM Zombie Apocalypse Blog!

     Excuse me while I change the looks on this blog some, I am a little dorkish when it comes to things like this. I’m still trying to get a feel for the blog thing and the who, what, when, where, why, and how I present this blog and the information I want to share with out making me look too much like a dummy.
     I am a Systems Engineer, working with the Operations Manager 2007 R2 for a living. I have build, managed and maintain my customer’s Operations Manager systems. Yes that was multiple systems, across multiple networks. In all there are seven separate systems, and they are growing. But I am the sole person for all these systems for now. At home, I have a lab that I like to call “”Cybertron””. Cybertron is my network of systems that I will be using for testing and sharing information from, since anything from my work experience is a no no situation, don’t ask and I will not tell.
     I plan on covering everything from a newbie’s (Zombies) point of view to the experts (Zombie Killers). But why zombies, you may ask? I thought of it one late night while I was looking for answers to a problem. I felt like a zombie feeding off of someone else’s brain. there I coined the phrase SCOM Zombie. I think everyone does it, some more than other. I can only hope we will all learn valuable information from this blog, and enjoy some humor that goes along with it.