Reporting Console

In the section "Global Settings" earlier in this chapter, we discussed the grooming functions of MOM. MOM has a database size limit of 30GB. Once a database starts to approach this size, MOM performance degrades severely. Microsoft recommends not raising the grooming value above 7 days to keep console performance bearable.

If the Management Server can retain only 30GB of data, that space is going to fill up quickly. Most organizations require the maintenance of some level of historical data. To fulfill this requirement, a MOM administrator can set up MOM to send the aged data to a grooming database. Neither the Web Console nor the Operator Console can access this database directly to pull information. This is where using a Reporting Console comes into the picture.

Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Reporting Console is built on the SQL Reporting Services components. In order to access the reports console, point the browser to http://<servername>/reports. If you are familiar with SQL Reporting Services, you will notice that things look very much the same. Figure 6-16 shows a processor utilization graph generated by one of the reports.

Figure 6-16

Navigation in the Reporting Console is mainly done by following hyperlinks to reports. Because the Reporting Console uses the SQL Reporting Services foundation, all the functions are available for uses such as exporting reports, managing subscriptions, and security management.

Complete coverage of SQL Reporting Services could fill an entire book (and has). For more information on using SQL Reporting Services, begin your exploration at the online help.