nWorks MP for VMware updated!

For some weeks now version 5.7 of the nWorks MP for monitoring VMware is available. Even though the version change (from 5.6 to 5.7) seems minor, much has been changed, like (but not limited to):

1. Ghost Computers are gone!
   Up to version 5.6 there was this nagging issue of unmonitored Windows Computers. What happened was that the nWorks MP detected the VMs hosted by the VMware ESX(i) servers and piped it into SCOM. However, a relationship between a VM and a Windows Computer was created as well. As long as the VM ran a SCOM Agent, nothing was wrong. But when the VM was nothing but a test server without a SCOM Agent, the VM would show up in SCOM as an unmonitored Windows Computer. I have seen environments with many unmonitored Windows Computers because of that.
   
   With the latest version of the nWorks MP this is remedied. Nice!
   
   
2. Reports: More, better & improved!
   What’s a good MP without any Reports? Exactly, a bad MP! Also when the MP has Reports but they aren’t good enough, the overall quality of the MP is affected as well. The nWorks MP already had good reports. In the latest version however, new Reports are added, existing ones are totally rewritten. So all you ever wanted to know about your VMware environment, but didn't have the time for it, it’s there now with a single click on the mouse button!
   
   
3. vSphere 5.0 support
   VMware ESXi 5.0 and VMware vCenter Server 5.0 are fully supported now, also the new metrics. These metrics are monitored and collected as well. So one gets an even better grip on the VMware ESXi 5.0 environment. Nice!
   
   
4. CIM-XML protocol support
   With this protocol hardware data is collected directly from the ESX(i) hosts. This reduces the overhead on vCenter and exposes more sensors as well. A welcome side-effect is that the ‘noise’ (Refresh Hardware Information’ events in the VI-Client) is gone as well. I know many VMware admins who will love this one!
   
   
5. New Views and Dashboards
   This version of the nWorks MP has new Views and Dashboards. So with a single glance one gets a better and detailed status information about the VMware environment.

But there is much more to it as well. Want to know more? Want to test drive it yourself? Go here. IMO, this MP is very good and adds much functionality to any existing SCOM environment out there. Whenever you run VMware and you have SCOM in place as well, you really need this MP.

Sometimes people tell me they already have vCenter in place, so why bother? However, vCenter is primarily a resource manager tool with some basic monitoring capabilities. The nWorks MP – in conjunction with SCOM – brings the monitoring of your VMware environment to whole new level.