Microsoft's GSM Web Site Monitoring Service Now Available -- Redmondmag.com

Microsoft's GSM Web Site Monitoring Service Now Available

By Kurt Mackie
03/28/2013

Microsoft's Global Service Monitor (GSM) service for tracking Web site performance is now commercially available, the company announced today.

The GSM service, which runs from Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud computing platform and works with Microsoft System Center Operations Manager, allows users to check the performance of Web sites globally. The service specifically requires having Service Pack 1 for System Center 2012, which was released in January.

The GSM service has the capability to mimic the end user experience at Web sites by sending out tests, or "synthetic transactions," to check how Web applications work globally. The process works by sending JavaScript to the edge client, according to Vijay Tewari, principal group program manager on System Center Virtual Machine Manager, in a Tech-Ed talk last year. He claimed that GSM users can drill down into the code to spot any problems.

The GSM service delivers test reports, which are available, along with other performance information, in the Operations Manager console, according to Microsoft's description. For developers, the GSM service also works with other Microsoft tools, such as Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server.

The GSM service is available to System Center 2012 customers that have Software Assurance coverage on their servers. It's available in 80 countries, but only in English. Microsoft also offers a 90-day free GSM trial, which can be accessed at the bottom of this page.

In other news about Microsoft's services, System Center Advisor now supports Windows Server 2012, as well as Hyper-V Server 2012. Earlier this month, Microsoft had announced that System Center Advisor, which provides a best practices configuration check on various Microsoft server solutions, was released as a free service. Organizations no longer need to have Software Assurance licensing coverage on their servers to use the service.

Now, System Center Advisor users can tap the latest Windows Server release, in addition to Windows Server 2008 and later versions. System Center Advisor also works with 2010 versions of Exchange, SharePoint and Lync, along SQL Server 2008.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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