Impressing your boss with the Topology Widget

One of the most underestimated dashboard widgets in OpsMgr is the Topology Widget. This is the one widget that I deploy in every customer engagement I work on. Dashboards created with it are generally the ones that make the most impact for end users and senior management when we display them on a big screen.

Firstly, don't be fooled by its name. You would be forgiven for thinking that this dashboard was some kind of add-on for Active Directory or a similar service that requires topology mapping but actually, you should think of this as your blank canvas for creativity!

Essentially this widget enables you to upload a background image (which can be in *.png, *.bmp or *.jpg format) and then add any monitored objects that you wish from OpsMgr over the top of the image to create a live dashboard similar to the sample IT Services Dashboard shown in Figure 9.16.

Figure 9.16: Topology widget dashboard example

The IT Services Dashboard background image in...