Understanding Configuration Groups

A configuration group consists of the following components:

• One database
• One or more Data Access Servers
• One or more Consolidators and associated Agent Managers
• Any number of agents

The following figure illustrates a basic configuration group.

Why Use Multiple Configuration Groups?

Each configuration group contains only one database and must have a unique name. The database provides a central storage location for all data collected from that configuration group, as well as alerts, rules, scripts, and configuration data. You can have more than one configuration group in your enterprise. Agents can reside in more than one configuration group, sending the same or different information to each configuration group. You can also forward alerts from one configuration group to another. The following list provides a few examples of why you might want more than one configuration group in your enterprise:

• Geographic locations
• Organizational departments
• Network bandwidth

Naming Your Configuration Groups

Each configuration group in an enterprise must have a unique configuration group name. Microsoft Operations Manager 2000 uses this configuration group name to distinguish one configuration group from another. After you name a configuration group, you cannot change the name without uninstalling all components, including all agents.

For more information about multiple configuration groups, see the Installation Guide.