A distributed application is one that consists of multiple objects. For example, a distributed application could comprise a database running on one monitored computer, a web server running on another computer, and a device that functions as a network load balancer. In Operations Manager, you can monitor each of the disparate objects that comprise the distributed application as a way of monitoring the overall health of the application. To be included in a distributed application, Operations Manager must already monitor each of these objects before you can add them to a distributed application using the Distributed Applications Designer, a tool available from the Operations Manager console.
The Distributed Application Designer allows you to create distributed applications using a graphical tool. This graphical tool is shown in Figure 1. The figure shows three groups named Databases, Management Servers, and Infrastructure.
FIGURE 1 Distributed Application Designer
You create distributed applications with the distributed application designer by using the following:
- Objects Any object that has been discovered by Operations Manager can be used when building a distributed application.
- Component Groups These are collections of objects. Before you can add an object to a distributed application, you need to add that object to the component group. Component groups can contain any type of object, though it’s also possible to restrict component groups to objects of a specific class.
- Relationships These allow you to express that a relationship exists between two different component groups.
You can build a distributed application in the Distributed Application Designer from a blank template, or use one of the following built-in templates listed in Table 1.
TABLE 1 Distributed application templates
To create a distributed application, perform the following general steps:
1. In the Authoring workspace of the Operations Manager console, right-click Distributed Applications, and click Create A New Distributed Application.
FIGURE 2 Messaging distributed application
2. On the Create A Distributed Application dialog box, shown in Figure 3, provide a name for the distributed application, choose a template, and choose an unsealed management pack in which to store the application.
FIGURE 3 Blank application designer template
3. Click Add Component, to add a new component to the distributed application.
4. In the Create New Component Group, shown in Figure 4, specify the object classes that you want to include in the component group.
FIGURE 4 Component group objects
More Info: Distributed Applications
You can learn more about distributed applications at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh457612.aspx.
5. Populate the component group by dragging objects to it from the sidebar. Create relationships between component groups by clicking Create Relationship, and selecting the source and destination component groups.
