OM12 APM (Application Monitoring) – Some very useful posts

With OM12 the AVIcode product is integrated and rebranded as APM (Application Monitoring), enabling OM12 to monitor .NET products. Not just on its surface but deep down in to the nitty gritty details, enabling OM12 operators with ‘a few mouse clicks’ to cover a .NET application completely, without having them to know anything about .NET programming.

On top of it all, the Alerts which are generated by APM are really detailed, delivering experienced .NET developers the information they need to get their job done. Besides these Alerts two new Consoles are added as well, tailored to detailed APM monitoring, tracking and reporting.

(Picture taken from http://blogs.technet.com/b/momteam/archive/2011/07/30/operations-manager-and-application-monitoring.aspx.)

Since AVIcode is a product with so many capabilities, possibilities and therefore items to configure, one could easily say that OM12 is actually two products in one: the successor of SCOM R2 and the successor of AVIcode. On one hand it’s good, since one gets even more bang for the buck, on the other hand it looks like a challenge as well since one has to learn how to run two products instead of one.

However, Microsoft has gone to great lengths not only to integrate these two products but also to lower the learning curve. And they have succeeded very well in it. None the less, for anyone without any experience with AVIcode (like me, I knew about the product but also its price which was really staggering) the APM component of OM12 is something new which requires some new skills. This posting refers to some valuable resources found on the internet all about APM, what it does, how it works and out of what components it’s made off.

Read these postings since they really help you understanding APM quickly, thus enabling one to get the most out of APM.

1. Configuring APM – Basic overview and guide
   http://blogs.technet.com/b/server-cloud/archive/2011/11/11/application-performance-monitoring-with-operations-manager-2012.aspx
   
   
2. AVIcode vs. APM – High level overview
   http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sergkanz/archive/2011/09/13/cut-the-monitoring-price-application-monitoring-investments.aspx
   
   
3. APM Architecture in OM12 Beta
   http://blogs.technet.com/b/momteam/archive/2011/08/12/application-performance-monitoring-in-opsmgr-2012-beta.aspx
   
4. How to use APM in OM12
   http://blogs.technet.com/b/momteam/archive/2011/07/30/operations-manager-and-application-monitoring.aspx
   
   
5. Working with Alerts in APM
   http://blogs.technet.com/b/momteam/archive/2011/08/23/application-monitoring-working-with-alerts.aspx
   
   
6. APM Object Model
   http://blogs.technet.com/b/momteam/archive/2012/01/14/apm-object-model.aspx
   
   
7. Microsoft TechNet – Monitoring .NET applications
   http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh212856.aspx
   
   
8. Quick look – APM in OM12
   http://www.viacode.com/blog/blog/2011/12/15/.net-avicode-apm-monitoring-in-scom-2012-rc-quick-look
   
   
9. KB: Steps to import the AVIcode 5.7 templates after upgrading to OM12
   http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2606375
   
   
10. Series of blog postings all about installing APM
    http://www.systemcentersolutions.com/2011/08/installing-avicode-apm-monitoring/
    
    
11. Troubleshooting: Why aren’t my web applications discovered? 
    http://www.systemcentersolutions.com/2011/08/apm-avicode-why-arent-my-web-applications-discovered/