Thanks for the info, guys. I'm using it to convince my IT director to go with NETIQ. This will hopefully help.
> Jonathan, > > I have deployed both products, and personally like NetIQ a heck of a lot > better. > > Essentially both products can perform the same levels of monitoring and > reporting, however MOM requires a LOT more legwork to get the same result. > The NetIQ interface as you said is more logical and easier to navigate, and > it seems a lot more thought has been given to providing a clean interface > for administrators. > > Setting up alerts etc for MOM for say a single server is MUCH more tedious > than for NetIQ. MOM's grouping of monitoring into a hierarchal structure > based on attributes creates more confusion IMHO. We have required some > scripting to create custom attributes on servers just to enable some groups > to be created (by pulling back these custom attributes), not necessary on > NetIQ as it allow arbitrary grouping of servers (MOM does allow this as > well, but its not as intuitive). With NetIQ a simple drag/drop of a task or > monitoring job onto the device in question is much easier and allows more > targeted monitoring to occur. Currently with MOM if I really want to > perform specific monitoring of a server, I jump into perfmon and set up > custom monitoring, rather than try and make MOM do it. > > Arbitrary grouping / monitoring of different core servers in a different way > is where MOM really falls down IMHO. With NetIQ, I can simply change the > monitored jobs on each specific server, changing thresholds for each one, > and even disabling some jobs if I feel like. Attempting to do this with MOM > is an exercise in frustration, since most settings are based on the > monitoring groups which are attached to a group of servers based on a > specific attribute (registry setting, name etc), not the server itself. For > example, we have 6 exchange servers. If I want to monitor the gateway > server differently, or set different thresholds (eg I'm not concerned if the > outgoing SMTP queue length on the gateway gets about 50, but on a mailbox > server I am), this is MUCH more difficult on MOM than it should be. > Currently, I set the threshold lower for all exchange servers, and simply > ignore the ones from the gateway where they are under *my* determined > threshold. Not pretty, and makes it more difficult for me to set up paging > / sms interfaces for our after-hours support team, as they get a lot of > unnecessary alerts. > > The scripting interface for both products is pretty-much on par. > > I am quite disappointed with the requirement to add-on packs for MOM to > effectively monitor NT v4.0 servers, as this should be a core feature of the > system (yes, I do realise MS want me to upgrade to 2k, 2003, but it isn't > going to happen soon). Add-on packs for both products are neither here nor > there, as you require packs for application-specific monitoring of most > applications (like Exchange, SQL), however NetIQ currently has wider choice > for non-Microsoft applications (IBM, Oracle etc), and wider OS support. > > The NetIQ reporting / graphing is miles ahead of MOM, however with MOM you > always can use Excel to provide customised reporting and graphing. > > In MOM's defence it is essentially a v1 product (even though it is based on > other well-known product *grin*), so I am expecting big things from MOM > 2004. MOM SP1 is addressing a number of my gripes above, so after I apply it > I'll see how much things have improved. > > Glenn > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jonathan Beeler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Exchange Discussions" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 6:22 AM > Subject: NETIQ vs. MOM > > > > Recently, we've been evaluating NETIQ's AppManager for monitoring our > > Exchange environment, including Exchange 2000, 5.5, Antigen, Blackberry, > > and IBM Director (hardware management). It would also monitor Windows ad > > AD. > > > > At the same time, we are also evaluating MOM to monitor the same stuff, > > however, if we want it to monitor these third party items(, Blackberry, > > and IBM Director), we will have to purchase the plug-ins from NETIQ. > > > > So far, I really like NETIQ. It is easy to use, seems very accurate and > > is logically organized with more features and monitors right out of the > > box that I like. > > > > My impression of MOM is not so good. It seems that a lot of customization > > is required to make it work properly. I think that it would monitor > > things effectively, however, I think the implementation time, due to the > > increased level of customization involved, would be much greater, and > > ultimately make me less happy. > > > > I would appreciate anyone's thoughts/experiences with either or both of > > these products since there is quite a debate going on within my company. > > > > Thanks > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm > > Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp > > To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
