SOLARWINDS

Guide to monitoringMicrosoft ExchangeVersion 2019.4

Last Updated: Monday, November 11, 2019

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SOLARWINDS: GUIDE TO MONITORING MICROSOFT EXCHANGE

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Table of ContentsGuide to monitoring Microsoft Exchange 5

SolarWinds solutions 5

Next steps 7

Discover your Exchange environment 8

Prerequisites 8

Discover your Exchange servers 9

Import discovered nodes 10

Add F5 BIG-IP load balancer 11

Next steps 12

Monitor Exchange servers and IIS applications with SAM 13

Prerequisites 13

Plan for configuration 13

Configure the Exchange server and IIS applications 14

Verify that SAM is monitoring the Exchange servers and IIS 15

Next steps 17

Monitor the virtual Exchange environment with VMAN 18

Prerequisites 18

Integrate SolarWinds VMAN with the Orion Platform 18

Confirm that the integration was successful 20

Next steps 21

Monitor Exchange storage issues with SRM 22

Prerequisites 22

Add devices used to store Exchange data 22

View storage data in SRM widgets 23

Capacity Dashboard 23

Performance Dashboard 23

Next steps 24

Monitor Exchange network performance with NPM 25

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Monitor network paths 25

Prerequisites for monitoring network paths 25

Create a NetPath service to the Exchange load balancer 26

Assign probes from office locations to the service 27

Monitor a network path 28

Monitor F5 BIG-IP load balancers with Network Insight 30

Prerequisites for monitoring F5 BIG-IP load balancers 30

Configure Network Insight to monitor BIG-IP load balancers 30

Next steps 32

Monitor the Exchange user experience with WPM 33

Prerequisite 33

Configure WPM to monitor Exchange 33

Task 1: Choose the playback location 33

Task 2: Add the location and install the WPM Player 34

Task 3: Record the steps that you want WPM to play back 35

Task 4: Create a transaction for each recording 37

View transaction data in WPM 38

Next steps 38

Best practices for configuring Exchange alerts 39

Guidelines for enabling alerts and configuring thresholds 39

Guidelines for testing alerts 39

Guidelines for sending notifications 39

Filter the AppStack to show only the Exchange environment 40

Learn more about monitoring Exchange 42

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Guide to monitoring Microsoft ExchangeTo comprehensively monitor your Microsoft® Exchange environment, you must monitor the health of the Exchange application and all associated elements (such as IIS and SQL Server), the health of the hardware that hosts the software (Exchange servers and load balancers), the performance of transactions from end-users to the Exchange environment, and the health of the storage devices where Exchange data is stored.

This document describes some ways you can achieve these goals using SolarWinds® Orion® Platform products.

Download a PDF of this document.

SolarWinds solutionsSolarWinds provides five modules that you can use to monitor your Microsoft Exchange environment. Depending on your organization's needs, you can deploy all modules or only a subset.

THIS MODULE... MONITORS THIS ASPECT OF YOUR EXCHANGE ENVIRONMENT...

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM)

SAM is a crucial part of the Exchange monitoring solution. SAM monitors the back end of your Exchange environment, consisting of servers and Database Availability Groups (DAGs).

During discovery, the Orion Platform identifies each server and automatically applies either an AppInsight for Exchange template or an AppInsight for IIS template.

 l AppInsight for Exchange provides detailed metrics on mailboxes, databases, and a host of performance counters.

 l AppInsight for IIS identifies IIS Server, Website, and Application Pool performance issues.

SAM also displays application-related data (including applications, servers, hosts, and volumes) in the AppStack. The AppStack is a visual mapping that provides health and status information to help you troubleshoot performance and availability issues.

Learn more about AppInsight applications and AppStack.

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SolarWinds Virtualization Manager (VMAN)

If your Exchange servers are running virtually, VMAN provides in-depth information about your virtual environment and adds this data to the AppStack. VMAN also correlates virtual disks to the physical disks in the back-end storage layer so that you can identify and correct storage problems.

Use VMAN to troubleshoot disk usage issues in a virtual environment, such as storage I/O problems caused by a "noisy neighbor" that is consuming I/O resources needed by Exchange.

SolarWinds Storage Resource Manager (SRM)

SRM monitors the storage arrays used to store Exchange data. SRM correlates disks to storage devices on the network, and provides data about the capacity and performance of your storage devices. With SRM, information about storage devices (including array, volumes, and LUNs) is shown in the AppStack.

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)

If you are using an F5® BIG-IP® load balancer in your Exchange environment, Network Insight monitors the health of the load balancer and displays relationships to connected elements.

NetPath monitors paths from each office location to the Exchange load balancer. Use NetPath to verify that the load balancer is accessible, and to identify and troubleshoot any problem areas along the paths.

Learn more about Network Insight and NetPath.

SolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)

WPM runs test transactions from office locations to the load balancer and Exchange servers. WPM provides information about what users experience when they access Microsoft Outlook, and alerts you if Outlook takes significantly longer than usual to load or if users cannot access the site.

NetPath tells you if a location is accessible and if there are lags along the path. WPM mimics user actions by playing back recorded transactions, which provides an in-depth view into the performance of connections, servers, authentication, and more. For example, WPM can alert you if a single server in your Client Access Server (CAS) array is returning pages more slowly than other pages in the same array.

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The following graphic shows how these modules combine to monitor the entire Exchange architecture.

Exchange deployments vary. This example shows an Exchange 2016 environment. The Exchange servers are within a DAG and are accessed through a load balancer. The instructions in this guide are tailored for a similar configuration.

Next stepsTo configure SolarWinds modules to monitor Exchange, complete the following tasks:

 l Discover your Exchange environment l Configure one or more of the following modules:

 o Monitor Exchange servers and IIS applications with SAM o Monitor the virtual Exchange environment with VMAN (only if your Exchange servers are

virtualized) o Monitor Exchange storage issues with SRM o Monitor Exchange network performance with NPM o Monitor the Exchange user experience with WPM

 l Set up alerts to monitor your Exchange environment l Filter the AppStack to show only your Exchange environment

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Discover your Exchange environmentDiscovery is a term used to describe the process the Orion Platform uses to identify servers, applications, and other network elements that can be monitored. Discovery is the first step in comprehensive Exchange monitoring. During Discovery, the Orion Platform polls the devices on a segment of the network that you specify and checks for the readiness of a device. If a device is operational, that device is discovered and you can add it to the Orion Platform database for monitoring.

When you are monitoring your Exchange environment, you should discover all network elements that are a part of that environment. In the SolarWinds lab environment, the Exchange topology includes:

 l Exchange servers: During Discovery, the Orion Platform automatically identifies Exchange servers and assigns a SAM AppInsight for Exchange template for monitoring. You do not need to complete any extra configuration to monitor your Exchange servers.

 l Internet Information Services (IIS): By virtue of discovering your Exchange servers, the Orion Platform also automatically assigns a SAM AppInsight for IIS template for monitoring. You do not need to complete any extra configuration to monitor IIS.

In this example, because the Exchange servers are registered to an Activity Directory Domain Controller, you only need to discover the domain controller.

 l F5 BIG-IP Load balancer: If your Exchange environment includes a load balancer, the load balancer ensures continuous access to the Exchange servers, actively switching Exchange servers if one goes down without interruption to end users.

SolarWinds recommends discovering the Exchange servers and the load balancer separately, because they require different types of polling:

 l For Exchange servers, WMI polling provides much more detailed information. l For the load balancer, SNMP polling is required.

The following example shows you how to use the Network Sonar wizard to add the Exchange servers, and then how to manually add the F5 load balancer.

Prerequisites l Install at least one Orion Platform product (for example, SolarWinds SAM or SolarWinds NPM) l Collect the following information:

 o The IP address or host name of the domain controller, or the DNS name of the domain o The credentials of the domain controller o The IP address of the load balancer and iControl credentials

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Discover your Exchange serversThe guidelines in this section are specific to discovering your Exchange environment. For additional information about Discovery, click here.

 1. Log into the Orion Web Console and select Settings > Network Discovery.

 2. On the Welcome page, click Start.

 3. Complete each panel of the Discovery wizard:

PANEL ACTION(S)

Network  a. Click Add Active Directory Domain Controller to query.

 b. In the Active Directory Domain Controller field, enter the domain controller IP address or host name, or the DNS name of the domain.

In Active Directory discovery, the DNS domain name can be entered in place of the domain controller name or IP address.

 c. Enter the domain controller credentials, and click Next.

 d. On the Organizational Units dialog box, select the organizational units you want to scan, and click Finish.

 l SolarWinds recommends that you select all organizational units that contain servers and other network hardware. You can clear the units that do not include hardware, including:

 o ForeignSecurityPrincipals o Managed Service Accounts o Microsoft Exchange Security Groups o Recycle Bin o Users

 l Be sure that the Import servers option at the bottom of the dialog is selected.

Agents Click Next.

Virtualization Click Next.

SNMP Click Next.

Windows Enter the Windows credentials.

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Monitoring Settings

 a. In the Include devices/nodes that respond to ICMP (ping) alone field, click No.

When you are monitoring Exchange, nodes that return only up or down status information provide little value.

 b. In the Preferred Polling Method field, select WMI.

WMI polling provides much more detail about the Exchange environment than SNMP. For example, SNMP does not show the Exchange mount points.

 c. In the How Would You Like to Set Up What to Monitor field, click Manually.

Automatic monitoring is appropriate for a more targeted discovery.

Discovery Settings

Enter a name and description for the discovery job and examine the retry and timeout defaults, and click Next.

If you are on a slower network, consider increasing the Discovery Timeout value, for example to 120. The default values for all other settings are appropriate for most environments.

Keep the Hop Count at 0. Specifying a number of hops results in multiple scans throughout your environment, which adversely affects the time necessary to complete the scan.

Discovery Scheduling

Choose Once and Yes to run the discovery immediately. Then click Discover. A dialog box displays the progress.

Import discovered nodesThe Network Sonar Results wizard lists the nodes that were discovered so that you can determine which ones to import. For detailed steps that include screen shots, see Add discovered devices to SolarWinds SAM in the SAM Getting Started Guide.

Only imported network elements count against your license.

PANEL ACTION(S)

Devices Leave all devices selected, and click Next.

Interfaces SolarWinds recommends leaving the default interface selections, and click Next.

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Volumes If your Exchange servers are in a DAG configuration, verify that the number of Mount Points is not 0, and that Mount Points are selected.

If your servers are in a DAG configuration and Mount Points is 0, your Exchange server was not discovered. Make sure that WMI is selected when you discover your Exchange environment.

SolarWinds recommends that you clear the Floppy Disk, Compact Disk, and Removable Disk check boxes.

Applications Because the discovery is focused on an Exchange environment, SolarWinds recommends clearing Windows Scheduled Tasks and Microsoft SQL Server.

Import Preview

Review the list of everything that will be imported, and click Import.

Results When the import is complete, click Finish.

To see the network elements you imported, click My Dashboards > Home > Summary.

After they are discovered and imported, the Exchange servers and IIS applications show a status of unknown in the Applications with Problems widget. This is normal. When you configure the server and reassign the credentials, your Exchange servers and IIS applications are monitored.

Add F5 BIG-IP load balancerTo visualize the load balancing environment delivering Exchange services and get the instant status of individual components, add the load balancer device. Poll status and health statistics on the device with SNMP, and enable iControl on the node so you can change the rotation of pool members and see the health monitors.

Before you begin:

 l If you are planning to use NPM to monitor network performance in your Exchange environment, review the requirements for Network Insight for F5 BIG-IP load balancers.

 l Prepare the IP address of your load balancer and iControl credentials.

 1. Click Settings > All Settings, and click Add Node in the Getting Started grouping.

 2. Enter the IP address for the device.

 3. Select Most Devices: SNMP and ICMP as the polling method.

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 4. Enable F5 iControl:

 a. Scroll down to Additional Monitoring Options, select Poll for F5 iControl, provide the credentials for accessing the iControl API on the F5, and click Test.

 b. If iControl does not run on the default port 443, select Advanced Settings, and provide the port.

 5. Complete the Add Node wizard.

Both status information and health statistics will be collected on the F5 device, and you can now monitor your load balancing environment.

Next stepsTo configure your SolarWinds modules for comprehensive Exchange monitoring, see any of the following topics:

 l Monitor Exchange servers and IIS applications with SAM l Monitor the virtual Exchange environment with VMAN (only if your Exchange servers are virtualized) l Monitor Exchange storage issues with SRM l Monitor Exchange network performance with NPM l Monitor the Exchange user experience with WPM

After configuring one or more SolarWinds modules:

 l Set up alerts to monitor your Exchange environment. l Filter the AppStack to show only your Exchange environment

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Monitor Exchange servers and IIS applications with SAMSolarWinds SAM is a crucial component in monitoring your Exchange servers and IIS applications. During discovery, Orion identifies each server and automatically applies either an AppInsight for Exchange template or an AppInsight for IIS template. The AppInsight templates provide metrics about Exchange services including data about performance, mailboxes, sites, users and access, hardware health, and more.

SAM also displays application-related data (including applications, servers, hosts, and volumes) in the AppStack. The AppStack is a visual mapping that provides health and status information to help you troubleshoot performance and availability issues.

PrerequisitesInstall SAM and Discover your Exchange environment if you have not already done so.

After Discovery, the Exchange servers and IIS applications show a status of unknown in the Applications with Problems widget. This is normal. When you configure the server and reassign the credentials (as described below), the Orion server monitors your Exchange servers and IIS applications.

Plan for configurationBefore you configure the Exchange server and IIS applications, be aware of the following:

 l Exchange credentials are very specific. You need administrator permissions to the Exchange servers. For the Exchange Infrastructure, you need read-only organization and read-only mailbox permissions.

 l When you configure the server, the IIS services restart. During a restart, users connected to that mailbox server could be disconnected. Unless you are in a highly available environment, SolarWinds recommends configuring the server during non-business hours.

The IIS services restart even if you manually configure the server.

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Configure the Exchange server and IIS applicationsAfter Orion discovers the Exchange server and IIS applications, you configure them and ensure they are working. Complete the following steps for each Exchange server and each IIS application.

 1. In the Orion Web Console, click My Dashboards > Applications > SAM Summary.

 2. In the All Applications widget, expand AppInsight for Exchange and then expand an Exchange server.

 3. Hover over the Exchange server name to view more information.

In this example, the Exchange server on EASTEXCH02V is red because there are unknown elements and the server needs to be rebooted.

 4. Click the Exchange server name.

 5. In the Management widget, click Edit Application Monitor.

 6. Leave the PowerShell default values, unless you have a specific reason to change them in your environment.

 7. Click the Configure Server button.

When you click configure server, the system:

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 l Restarts the IIS service. During a restart, anyone connected to that mailbox server could be disconnected. SolarWinds recommends performing this procedure during non-business hours unless you are in a highly available environment.

 l Writes a certificate to the local store. l Changes settings in IIS that enables PowerShell to use full language instead of limited

language. l Verifies that Windows remote management is enabled.

If you configure the Exchange server first, you do not need to configure the IIS service. If you configure the IIS service first, then you still need to configure the Exchange server.

 8. Repeat this procedure for each Exchange server and the IIS server.

Verify that SAM is monitoring the Exchange servers and IIS 1. To verify that SAM is monitoring the Exchange server, click My Dashboards > Applications >

Exchange.

The system displays Exchange component monitors in green.

The Orion server polls only once a day for mailbox count, mailbox size, and attachment size metrics. As a result, it takes the system 24 hours to display data.

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 2. To verify that SAM is monitoring IIS, click My Dashboards > Applications > IIS.

The system displays IIS component monitors in green.

See the SAM Administrator Guide for more information about using AppInsight for Exchange and using AppInsight for IIS.

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Next stepsTo configure other modules for comprehensive Exchange monitoring, see any of the following topics:

 l Monitor the virtual Exchange environment with VMAN (only if your Exchange servers are virtualized) l Monitor Exchange storage issues with SRM l Monitor Exchange network performance with NPM l Monitor the Exchange user experience with WPM

After configuring one or more SolarWinds modules:

 l Set up alerts to monitor your Exchange environment. l Filter the AppStack to show only your Exchange environment

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Monitor the virtual Exchange environment with VMANIf your Exchange servers are running virtually, SolarWinds recommends adding Virtualization Manager (VMAN) to your Exchange monitoring solution. VMAN correlates applications, servers, virtualization resources, and backend storage layers so that you can quickly identify and correct storage problems. VMAN adds detailed information about virtualization entities (such as virtual centers, clusters, hosts, and machines) to the AppStack. The detailed data that VMAN provides about disk and disk usage is critical to monitoring and troubleshooting issues with virtualized Exchange servers.

VMAN is used to monitor Exchange only if your Exchange servers are virtualized.

Storage I/O in particular can be challenging to troubleshoot in a virtualized Exchange environment. When storage I/O rates are compromised, the Exchange servers cannot write to the primary database fast enough, which then fails over to another database. In a virtualized environment, storage I/O bottlenecks can be caused by a "noisy neighbor," or a virtual disk that is not part of the Exchange environment but is consuming I/O resources that Exchange needs. Without VMAN, you won't see correlated information about the underlying storage devices, and finding the root cause of the Exchange performance problems can take hours.

Prerequisites l Install at least one Orion Platform product (for example, SolarWinds SAM, SolarWinds NPM, or

SolarWinds SRM). l Deploy the VMAN appliance on your VMware or Hyper-V hosts.

Integrate SolarWinds VMAN with the Orion PlatformWhen you integrate VMAN with the Orion Platform, you can view virtualization environment information in the Orion Console without adding the host and VM as managed nodes. Additionally, the AppStack displays information about VMs and the underlying storage devices, and you can receive alerts and recommendations for managing VMs and resolving problems.

 1. In the Orion Web Console, click Settings > All Settings.

 2. Under Product Specific Settings, click Virtualization Settings.

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 3. Choose Setup Virtualization Manager integration.

 4. Enter the location and credentials of the VMAN server and click Integrate.

The Sync Virtualization Manager wizard starts.

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 5. On the Configuration panel, SolarWinds recommends that you select Recommended: Show all my Virtualization Manager nodes in Orion. Click Next.

 6. On the Review panel, review the VMs to import into the Orion Platform, and click Finish.

This example imports four Hyper-V hosts and one vCenter.

 7. After the synchronization process runs, click Done on the Complete panel.

Confirm that the integration was successfulAfter the integration, you should see the virtual nodes in the Manage Nodes page.

 1. From the menu, click Settings > Manage Nodes.

 2. Confirm that the Manage Nodes panel lists the nodes that were integrated.

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Next stepsTo configure other modules for comprehensive Exchange monitoring, see any of the following topics:

 l Monitor Exchange servers and IIS applications with SAM l Monitor Exchange storage issues with SRM l Monitor Exchange network performance with NPM l Monitor the Exchange user experience with WPM

After configuring one or more SolarWinds modules:

 l Set up alerts to monitor your Exchange environment. l Filter the AppStack to show only your Exchange environment

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Monitor Exchange storage issues with SRMStorage Resource Monitor (SRM) monitors storage arrays and helps you locate and resolve storage-related issues. As part of your Exchange monitoring solution, use SRM to monitor the devices used to store Exchange data.

SRM resources and reports provide data about the capacity and performance of your storage devices. Use this data to identify trends and determine future storage needs.

SRM also adds information about storage devices to the AppStack. Use the AppStack to monitor the status of arrays, storage pools, volumes, and LUNs. You can use this information to determine if the latency to the disks used for Exchange storage is below critical levels, and to determine the root cause of performance issues.

 l If you discover storage issues, work with your Storage Administrator to resolve them. l If your Exchange servers are virtualized, use VMAN with SRM to provide additional

information.

PrerequisitesComplete the following tasks, if you have not already done so:

 l Install SRM l Discover your Exchange environment

Add devices used to store Exchange data 1. In the Orion Web Console, choose Settings > All Settings.

 2. Under Getting Started with Orion, choose Add Storage Device.

 3. Select the type and click Next.

 4. Enter the IP address and complete the fields required for the selected device type. Click Next.

For more information, click the Learn how to configure link in the upper-right part of the panel.

SRM discovers information about the selected device (such as the number of disks) and lists the results.

 5. On the Data Targets panel, verify the information and click Next.

 6. Click Finish.

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View storage data in SRM widgetsUse SRM resources to help you troubleshoot issues, view historical data, identify trends, and determine future storage needs.

Capacity DashboardUse the Capacity Dashboard to determine if your disks are filling up and you need to buy more storage.

Performance DashboardUse the Performance Dashboard for troubleshooting. For example, every day at 9 AM, people on the East coast complain that Outlook performance is slow. You use the Performance Dashboard to look at the storage that was used by Exchange servers at 9 AM Eastern time, and notice that there was a large increase. You communicate this to the Storage Administrator, who increases performance by adding more disks to that group.

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Next stepsTo configure other modules for comprehensive Exchange monitoring, see any of the following topics:

 l Monitor Exchange servers and IIS applications with SAM l Monitor the virtual Exchange environment with VMAN (only if your Exchange servers are virtualized) l Monitor Exchange network performance with NPM l Monitor the Exchange user experience with WPM

After configuring one or more SolarWinds modules:

 l Set up alerts to monitor your Exchange environment. l Filter the AppStack to show only your Exchange environment

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Monitor Exchange network performance with NPMWhen you add NPM to your comprehensive solution for monitoring Exchange, you can:

 l Monitor network paths from each office location to the load balancer. Make sure that the load balancer is accessible from all locations, and view the paths hop-by-hop to troubleshoot any issues.

 l View the health of the load balancer that splits traffic for your Exchange servers, and view relationships to virtual servers, pools, and individual pool members.

Monitor network paths Use NetPath to monitor the paths from each local office to the Exchange load balancer. NetPath verifies that the load balancer is accessible from all locations, and helps you identify and troubleshoot any problem areas along the paths. For more information about NetPath, see Discover your network paths.

To monitor a path, you must create a service to define the end of the path (in this case, the Exchange load balancer), and install probes at the beginning of the path (in this case, each office location).

To monitor network paths to the Exchange load balancer, complete the following tasks:

 1. Complete the prerequisites.

 2. Create a service that defines the end of the path (in this case, the load balancer).

 3. Assign a probe from each office location to that service.

After you define the paths, you can monitor them.

NetPath tells you whether a service is reachable. For details about the load and speed, see Monitor the Exchange user experience with WPM.

Optionally, you can create paths between the Orion server and each Exchange server, which you can use to compare performance. The performance on each path should be about the same. This is important if you have a stretch DAG or multiple data centers in different locations and your databases are replicated between them.

Prerequisites for monitoring network pathsTo configure NetPath to monitor the paths between office locations and the Exchange load balancer, you must:

 l Install NPM l Verify that the system meets the requirements for NetPath

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 l Obtain the following information: o The IP address or host name of the Exchange load balancer, and the port (typically 443)

 o The IP address and credentials for servers at each office location where you want to install NetPath probes

The probe is an agent you install in your local office. The probe sends packets to the destination IP address. SolarWinds recommends installing probes at each location where you have end users who consume Exchange services.

Create a NetPath service to the Exchange load balancerA service defines the location at the end of the path (in this case, the Exchange load balancer). In this example, we create a service to the load balancer using the default NetPath probe, which is installed on the Orion server.

 1. In the Orion Web Console, click My Dashboards > Network > NetPath Services.

 2. Click Create New Service.

 3. Enter the host name or IP address and the port of the Exchange load balancer.

 4. Enter an alias to identify this service. Click Next.

 5. Select the default probe, which is installed on the Orion server.

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 6. Click Create.

The NetPath Services view displays the new service.

If you don't have users in the Orion server location, you can remove this probe after you add other probes.

Assign probes from office locations to the serviceAssign a probe from each office location to the service created in the previous task. Complete the following steps for each office location.

 1. On the NetPath Services view, click the plus icon for the service.

The Assign Probe dialog opens.

 2. If a probe is not already installed at the office location, click Create New Probe. Then enter the host name or IP address of the computer where you want to install the probe and the credentials to log in to that computer, and click Create.

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 3. Select the probe and click Assign.

When the data is polled for the first time, click a probe to display the path.

Monitor a network pathNetPath shows the path from a probe to the destination of your service. You can resolve issues that you find on your network, or inform the node owner if you find issues on other networks.

 1. Click My Dashboards > Network > NetPath Services.

 2. Expand a service, and click a probe. The path is displayed. Use the icons on the left to show more or less detail about nodes on the path.

 3. In the Network Path graph, examine the hops. Position the cursor over the node to see details. Click a node group to expand the nodes.

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 4. If a node is on your network and you want to see more details, double-click the node.

A detail panel opens on the left. (If the device is not monitored by the Orion platform, limited information is available.)

 5. To see details about an issue in the history, find the time of the issue in the Path History (1), and click a problematic time slot. Review the path from the past and locate the issue (2). To return to the current time, click Live Mode (3).

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Monitor F5 BIG-IP load balancers with Network InsightIf your Exchange configuration uses an F5 BIG-IP load balancer to route traffic to multiple Exchange servers, use Network Insight to monitor the health of elements in the load balancing environment and to see the relationships between these elements.

Prerequisites for monitoring F5 BIG-IP load balancersComplete the following tasks, if you have not already done so:

 l Install NPM l Add the load balancer device to NPM

Configure Network Insight to monitor BIG-IP load balancers 1. Click My Dashboards > Network > Load Balancing.

 2. Click an item and select Show Relationships to filter the whole balancing environment and show only items relevant for the element.

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You can see details for all the elements in the hierarchy, down to the servers hosting mailboxes. In the details, you can see their IP addresses.

 3. Drill in to the components with issues. Review the data provided by SolarWinds NPM, such as the status of load balancing components and the reason why they are not up. Use the data to troubleshoot the issues.

See Monitor BIG-IP load balancers for more information.

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Next stepsTo configure other modules for comprehensive Exchange monitoring, see any of the following topics:

 l Monitor Exchange servers and IIS applications with SAM l Monitor the virtual Exchange environment with VMAN (only if your Exchange servers are virtualized) l Monitor Exchange storage issues with SRM l Monitor the Exchange user experience with WPM

After configuring one or more SolarWinds modules:

 l Set up alerts to monitor your Exchange environment. l Filter the AppStack to show only your Exchange environment

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Monitor the Exchange user experience with WPMWeb Performance Monitor (WPM) monitors the performance that end users experience during web transactions. WPM records the transactions you want to monitor and then plays them back at regular intervals. If the time required to perform any of the steps within a transaction is higher than the specified threshold, WPM alerts you.

When you add WPM to your Exchange monitoring solution, you get a view of what users experience when they access Microsoft Outlook. You are alerted if accessing Outlook takes significantly longer than usual.

PrerequisiteInstall WPM, if you have not already done so:

Configure WPM to monitor ExchangeTo configure WPM to monitor Exchange, complete the following tasks:

 1. Choose the playback location. This is the computer that will be used to play back the recording.

If NetPath is configured to monitor the path to your Exchange servers, the same servers that act as NetPath probes can also be used as WPM playback locations.

 2. Add that computer as a location in WPM, and install the WPM player on it.

 3. Record the steps that you want WPM to play back (in this case, logging in to the OWA page).

 4. Create transactions based on each recording. Transactions are played back at regular intervals, and they generate alerts if the playback time exceeds the specified thresholds.

Task 1: Choose the playback locationThe playback location is the computer that will be used to play back the recorded transaction. To make sure that WPM accurately captures the performance that users experience when they access Exchange, choose a playback location that meets the following criteria:

 l The computer is in the same geographic location as most end users. For example, choose a server in a branch office.

 l The computer is always on. For example, don't choose an end-user's workstation, because it might be turned off.

 l The computer meets the WPM Player requirements.

If the office has a hypervisor running various servers, such as a print server or file server, consider adding another server and installing the player on it.

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Task 2: Add the location and install the WPM PlayerAfter you choose the playback location, you must add it as a location in WPM. To add the location, you must know:

 l The IP address or machine name of the computer where the player will be installed l Credentials to log into the computer

If you choose a location that already hosts a WPM Player, you can add the location without installing the player. In this example, the WPM Player is not installed in the selected location.

To add a transaction location:

 1. Click Settings >All Settings > WPM Settings > Manage Player Locations.

 2. On the Manage Transaction Locations page, switch to the Transaction Locations tab.

 3. Click Add Location.

 4. Select Install location on my network and click Next.

 5. Perform one of the following actions:

 l Enter the IP Address or Hostname of the location, and then click Add to List; or l Select a location from the list of existing nodes.

You can select multiple locations if required.

 6. Click Next.

 7. To configure settings, you can either:

 l Select Use default settings, and enter a Player Name if you do not want it to be the same as the Location Name; or,

 l Select Use advanced settings, and enter a Player Name, Player Port number, and Player Password, as required.

 8. Click Next.

 9. When the default credential for the location appears, you can either:

 l Click Assign Credentials, to open the Assign Credential window where you can choose an alternative credential, or click <New Credential> to set up a new credential; or

 l Click Test Credentials, to test the selected credential is valid.

 10. Click Deploy Player, to use the selected credential.

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 11. The location is added to the list of locations. Select the location and click Next. The Defining properties tab of the Add Transaction page is displayed.

Task 3: Record the steps that you want WPM to play backTo monitor Exchange, SolarWinds recommends creating multiple recordings:

 l One recording that accesses the OWA (Outlook Web Application) through the load balancer l Other recordings that access the OWA through each Exchange server in your network

Creating a separate recording for each server helps you identify problems with a specific server.

 1. From a computer with access to the Exchange server, download and install the WPM Recorder, if not already installed.

 a. Click Settings > All Settings > WPM Settings.

 b. Under Transaction Management, choose Manage Recordings.

 c. Click Download New Recorder.

 d. Open the download package and follow the onscreen instructions to install it.

 2. Launch the WPM Recorder from the Windows Start menu.

If this is your first time using the WPM Recorder, configure it as described in the WPM Getting Started Guide.

 3. Repeat the following steps to create a recording for each Exchange server and for the load balancer:

 a. Enter the URL of the OWA on the Exchange server or the load balancer, and then click Enter.

 b. (Optional) Enter screen resolution values in the fields provided.

 c. Click Start recording .

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 d. Perform the tasks you want to include in the recording.

As you complete tasks, the Recorded Steps pane populates.

 e. (Optional) Click an icon in the toolbar to add wait time, text verification, or another option to a step.

To learn about using WPM recording tools, such as X, Y Capture mode, see the WPM Administrator Guide.

 f. When finished recording, click Stop .

WPM plays back the recording, highlighting progress step-by-step in the Recorded Steps pane.

 g. (Optional) If you forgot a step, click Start recording to add new steps.

 h. When finished recording, click Save to Orion server.

 i. Respond to the prompt about calculating transaction time.

 j. In the Save to Orion server dialog box, provide a Name and Description.

 k. (Optional) Select the "Open web console to create monitor for this recording" check box to create a WPM transaction for the recording on the Add Transaction page, as described next.

 l. Click Save.

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Task 4: Create a transaction for each recordingA transaction is a WPM recording that is associated with a playback location. Transactions specify a threshold for each recorded step. WPM plays back each transaction at a regular interval, and alerts you if any step exceeds its threshold.

Repeat these steps for each recording.

 1. Click Settings > All Settings > WPM Settings.

 2. Click Add a Transaction Monitor to open the Add Transaction page.

 3. Select a recording and click Next.

 4. Select the location where you want to play the recording, and then click Next.

 5. Enter a Description for the transaction.

 6. Select the Playback interval to specify how frequently you want to play the transaction.

 7. Select the Thresholds for each step in the transaction.

 8. (Optional) To use a Proxy URL, click Advanced, and enter the proxy server address in the Proxy URL field. A proxy server acts as an intermediary for requests from clients. A proxy server passes requests and responses to the client application. For details, see Configure proxies for WPM.

 9. To enable screen captures, click Advanced, and enable that option.

 10. Click Next.

To improve transaction troubleshooting, set dependencies on transaction steps as well as transactions, providing an increased level of granularity to isolate dependencies at the level of single browser actions. See Configure WPM transactions and dependencies.

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View transaction data in WPMTo view transaction data collected by WPM, choose My Dashboards > Web > Transaction Summary. The widgets on this page highlight transactions whose duration is above the threshold you set, so you can tell at a glance whether users are having problems accessing the Exchange network.

WPM shows you:

 l Transactions with problems l Specific steps with problems l The time it takes to complete each step compared to the baseline

Next stepsAfter configuring one or more SolarWinds modules:

 l Set up alerts to monitor your Exchange environment. l Filter the AppStack to show only your Exchange environment

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Best practices for configuring Exchange alertsAfter you configure Orion Platform products to monitor Exchange, alerts are triggered when any conditions are outside of the specified parameters. Many preconfigured alerts are enabled by default, but to effectively monitor Exchange, you must determine which alerts to enable for your environment, what thresholds are appropriate, and who should be notified (or what action should occur) when an alert is triggered.

Use the following guidelines to configure alerts for your Exchange environment. To learn more, see Create and manage alerts.

Guidelines for enabling alerts and configuring thresholdsAlerts should reflect a need for action or further investigation. If alerts are not configured correctly, system monitoring becomes noise and support teams begin ignoring alerts. Important alerts can be missed if they are buried in a sea of insignificant alerts. Use the following guidelines to avoid alerting noise in your Exchange environment.

 l Let the system run for about two weeks to determine what "normal" is in your environment. Do not send email notifications during this time. When that period ends, determine which alerts to enable and what the thresholds should be. Use baselines to determine threshold values.

 l The advice for some alerts explains that the condition is not a problem unless a second condition also exists. Instead of enabling these alerts, create a custom alert that is triggered only when both conditions are met. See also Reduce alerting noise.

Guidelines for testing alerts l Test alert notifications using your own email address before sending notifications to a mailing list or

group.  l Test alerts during non-business hours. If your organization is global, determine when the lowest

usage times are and test during that time period. l In some cases, email might not be the best way to test alerts. Consider writing a Syslog message or

writing to the Windows event log.

Guidelines for sending notifications l Limit the number of people you send alerts to and the number of times the alerts are sent. l If an alert sends an email, don't include log files in the email. The log file can be very large, so it can

consume a lot of storage and slow down the email delivery. l Consider sending alert emails to a group or a list of individuals rather than a shared mailbox. In

many organizations, not everyone checks shared mailboxes regularly. Or, send notifications to your ticketing system.

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Filter the AppStack to show only the Exchange environmentAfter you have configure SolarWinds products to monitor Exchange, information about your Exchange environment is added to the AppStack. To help you troubleshoot Exchange issues, you can filter the AppStack to show only the Exchange environment. When you save the filtered view as a new layout, you can apply it at any time.

The AppStack Environment view is an interactive visual mapping that helps you identify the root cause of performance and availability issues. To learn more, see Monitor with AppStack.

 1. Choose My Dashboards > Home > Environment.

 2. In the Narrow your Environment pane, click Add Filter Properties.

The Add Column dialog box opens.

 3. Under Orion Object, choose Node.

 4. Search for Caption, and then select it from the search results.

 5. Click Add Column.

The selected columns are listed in the Narrow your Environment pane.

 6. Under Caption (Node), click Show more.

The Filter By Caption (Node) dialog box opens.

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 7. Search for your Exchange servers and select them.

 8. Click Apply.

The list of nodes in the Narrow your Environment pane is updated.

 9. Click Apply Filter.

The AppStack is filtered to show only the Exchange environment. The box above it lists the filter criteria.

 10. Save the layout:

 a. In the upper-right corner, click Default Layout and choose Save As New Layout.

 b. Enter a descriptive name, and click Save.

The new layout is listed on the layout menu.

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Learn more about monitoring ExchangeAdditional resources about monitoring Exchange with Orion Platform products include:

 l 5 Tips to Optimize Exchange Server for Improved Performance (THWACK) l AppInsight for Exchange: Two Geeks and a Goddess (SolarWinds Lab episode) l The Dos and Don'ts of Monitoring Exchange (webcast) l Q & A: AppInsight for Exchange (SolarWinds Lab episode) l The Top Troubleshooting Issues Exchange Admins Face and How To Tackle Them (webcast)

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