Since Veeam took over nWorks they been working very hard on the next version of the already pretty decent VMware connectors for management software like SCOM and HP. This resulted in the just released version 4.0 of their VMware Smart Plug-in for VMware (HP) and the Management Pack for VMware (SCOM).

Smart Plug-in for VMware and Management Pack for VMware now include hardware and sensor status using CIM SMASH Standard.

The following news item was posted on the Veeam website:

HP SOFTWARE UNIVERSE, VIENNA, Dec. 9, 2008 — Veeam Software, a leading provider of systems management tools for VMware ESX Server environments, today announced general availability of version 4.0 of its nworks enterprise management connectors, the first major update since Veeam acquired nworks in June. Version 4.0 includes new features and updates for the nworks Smart Plug-in (SPI) for VMware for HP Software Operations Manager, and the nworks Management Pack (MP) for VMware for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager. The new MP includes breakthrough functionality that enables end-to-end monitoring from ESX servers all the way through to enterprise applications running inside virtual machines. Veeam is exhibiting (booth OE/16) and demonstrating the new versions at HP Software Universe in Vienna this week.

New features in both the SPI and MP include the ability to gather ESX and ESXi hardware sensor metrics, sending these directly to HP Software Operations Manager or Microsoft System Center Operations Manager. If a power supply is interrupted, a fan fails, temperatures exceed thresholds, or other hardware-related issues occur, this information is immediately forwarded to the enterprise management console without use of an agent on the VirtualCenter Servers, ESX, or ESXi hosts. These metrics follow the CIM SMASH standard supported by hardware platform vendors, and monitor values over time, such as ambient temperature or power consumption.

New capabilities include:

* NEW in MP only: Comprehensive end-to-end monitoring from ESX Cluster, to ESX Host, to Virtual Machine and to Applications inside the VM – The Management Pack now provides integration of application and service data with the VI3 topology. In addition to comprehensive agentless monitoring, the MP leverages data from Operations Manager agents running inside Windows VMs. This breakthrough functionality enables a fully integrated picture, with end-to-end monitoring from ESX Servers through to the enterprise applications, such as SQL Server, Active Directory and Microsoft Exchange running inside virtual machines.
* New graphical representations of datastores – Version 4.0 provides at-a-glance views of the VMware data stores, showing virtual machines connected to data stores, along with other capacity planning information.
* VirtualCenter 2.5 server performance counters collected and forwarded – The new VirtualCenter performance counters offer greater visibility into the behavior of the IT environment, for example identifying disk bottlenecks through monitoring disk latency to back-end storage.
* Flexible collection intervals – With version 4.0, users select the performance and status data collection interval that is right for them – 5-, 10-, 15- or 20-minute intervals are supported, allowing greater scalability by customizing the collecting and filtering options.
* New MP Reports – Version 4.0 of the MP includes a new and comprehensive set of System Center Data Warehouse Reports, including ESX Host, VM and Cluster Performance History; Top ‘N’ Resource Users; ESX Host and VM Configuration; ESX Hardware Power, Temperature and Cooling.

“Our experience working with Veeam has been excellent, well above my expected standards,” said Scott Bader, manager of enhanced services, Coach. “The Veeam/nworks SPI for VMware has been very effective in stabilizing our VMware environment by providing threshold alerts and aiding our overall management. The SPI allows us to support our system from a proactive position and gives us a heads-up to potential problems.”

The nworks Smart Plug-in (SPI) and Management Pack (MP) for VMware are complementary to Veeam Monitor. Depending on their requirements, customers can use the nworks connectors, or Veeam Monitor, or both solutions to manage and monitor VMware performance. Customers currently on maintenance for the SPI or the MP can receive the new version at no additional charge.

Link to the article: http://www.veeam.com/pr_20081209.asp