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Introducing SCVMM 2008 Performance & Resource Optimization (PRO)

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What is PRO?

PRO stands for Performance & Resource Optimization (in some of our Beta documentation, you may also see it referred to as "Physical Resource Optimization"), which:

  • Is a powerful and valuable feature as the result of integration between SCOM (OpsMgr) and SCVMM;
  • Is a software package that leverages the System Center Operations Manager framework, which enables Microsoft partners (software and hardware vendors) to deliver value-added service and solution to our mutual customers;
  • Contains a connector piece that accelerates the communications between OpsMgr and SCVMM, and management packs with specific policies that VMM is called to take actions on;
  • Provides values of minimizing downtime, accelerating time to resolution, and, for advanced users with carefully designed policies, achieving self-healing / auto-recovery / hands-free management experience;

 

 

How does it work?

To explain how PRO works, let me use a simulated scenario to describe the system behaviors and the user experience.

From the powerpoint demo below, you can see how VMM PRO reacts to the event that is monitored and reported by OpsMgr:

  1. Assume that we have a three-node cluster with some HA VMs running on each, and the cluster is managed by a VMM server integrated with OpsMgr.
  2. When the resources of a VM peak out on host #1 below on the very left, OpsMgr detects the defined threshold is reached and immediately notifies SCVMM.
  3. A PRO tip pops up on the SCVMM admin console.
  4. Depending on your setting, either manual or auto approval of the action recommended (in this case, Move-VM) would move the VM to the highest rated host (per our intelligent placement), in this case, the host server in the middle with the least load.

 

Once the migration is completed, all the physical and virtual system states go back to normal, and the alerting state is also cleared for the VM that is now migrated to a new host. Business continues as usual...

 

How do I set it up?

Well, you might say, this thing looks pretty cool and I want to give it a try. Do I need to go through two hundred manual steps to get it working?

Actually, the installation and configuration is pretty straightforward.

  • Prerequisites:
    • Make sure that you have OpsMgr 2007 SP1 installed
    • Make sure that you have both System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Management Pack and PRO Management Pack files (including Library, VM, Hyper-V and VMware) installed
    • Install an OpsMgr console on the VMM server
    • Add your host clusters to VMM.
    • Install OpsMgr agent on all hosts and virtual machines.
      • For a VM to generate PROTips, it's required Integration Services installed on the VM.
    • Need to enable remotesigning from elevated privileges powershell session in VMM server as well as in OpsMgr server.
  • Configure PRO tips for each host cluster.
    • Go to PRO tab in the Host Cluster Properties dialog box
    • Select "Enable Host PRO on this host cluster" check box
    • Select the severity level "Critical Only" or "Warning and Critical"
    • Decide if you want to let VMM automatically take actions based on the recommendation by checking "Automatically implement PRO tips on this host cluster", and you can also further scope the auto-implement method only applies to "Critical Only" or "Warning and Critical" PRO tips.
  • "Bake time"
    • It's NOT recommended for users to enable PRO immediately after finishing install of SCVMM. Users are encouraged to get a stable environment first.
    • For PROtips to successfully migrate a VM, VMM requires some performance data to be collected.
    • Typically, two days of VM operation "bake time" should be sufficient.
  • Turn on PRO
    • On VMM console, go to Administration view, select "System Center" node on the Administration list, double-click on the "Operations Manager Server" line on the middle pane, and specify the OpsMgr 2007 root management server.
  • Verification of PRO configuration
    • The way to verify if the configuration was successful, is to go to OpsMgr console, open Discovered Inventory in Monitoring Space, Change Target Type to PRO Enabled Managed VM, PRO Enabled Managed Host and PRO Enabled ESX Server.

 

In addition to the information above, Michael has posted a nice blog entry on how to enable PRO in VMM here. You might want to check that out for some additional tips. 

 

What else do I get by integrating SCOM and SCVMM?

Now, this is our "Better Together" story for System Center product family. When you integrating SCOM with SCVMM, because Microsoft's virtualization technology does not stop at hypervisor level (unlike other hypervisors on the market today, which only virtualize the hardware layer and hence only understand / monitor hardware or OS layer), and because the virtualization management tool is integrating with our monitoring tool at various levels, the monitoring capabilities are extended from VMM Server to the managed hosts, and to the virtual machines on the host, and to the OS platforms running on the virtual machines, and to the software stack running on top of the OS. All these combined offers you a complete view, from your physical resources to your virtualized business services.

The following picture shows you, as an example, how we are able to monitor both your physical and virtual environment, from the physical host, all the way down to your SQL server DB stores, even with applications running on a VM in VMware ESX host. BTW, this is something VMware is unable to provide to their customers today.

 

 

 

 

 

Feeling excited by the power of PRO?

If you have gone this far to this last paragraph, I hope that I've shown you enough gadgets to get you excited with PRO? :-) 

If so, what are you still waiting for? Download our Beta today and give it a try!

 

Thanks for reading,

Cheng

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    VMM 2008 ships with a management pack. PRO is part of our entire VMM 2008 Management Pack. To install the VMM management pack and setup PRO, you use the Configure Operations Manager option from the setup screen.   Instructions are available at here: technet.microsoft.com/.../cc956099.aspx Again, the instructions for configuring PRO are really the instructions for configuring VMM-OpsMgr integration with which you get Health Monitoring and PRO. Hope this helps. Thanks, Cheng

  • Anonymous
    May 25, 2012
    We, at SCVMM team, have made our automation and integration stories super easy and fun through the powerful

  • Anonymous
    May 25, 2012
    Refer to blogs.technet.com/.../scvmm-2008-performance-resource-optimization-pro.aspx

  • Anonymous
    May 25, 2012
    The new pre-sales Hyper-V Server website is live. Many partners there, some with giveaways that appeal

  • Anonymous
    May 25, 2012
    Is the System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Management Pack released how can we download it?

  • Anonymous
    May 25, 2012
    Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 provides a comprehensive, cross-platform management