If you have more than 4 GB physical memory, then SQL server will not use more than 1.7 GB memory. To make more memory available to SQL server, enable AWE and cofigure Set Max Memory parameter using sp_configure stored procedure. If you do not set max memory parameter then SQL will eventually eat up all memory it can. For instance, if you have 8 GB physical memory, the at least set the max value to 6 GB and leave the rest to the OS. For more info: Check out this MS Link http://support.Microsoft.com/kb/274750

Note: The process is tested only on MOM 2005, newer versions may have different procedures. Always use ip-address instead of hostname with http, I experienced that using hostname doesn't work with IIS authentication for some reasons.

1. Export the MOM reports by using the Report Utility (RptUtil.exe) command-line tool. This tool is located in the following folder: %Program File%\Microsoft System Center Re\porting\Reporting
2. Use the command line as rptutil /URL:http://ip-address of the Report Server/ReportServer and by default it will dump the reports as MOMReports.xml under C:\
3. Uninstall MOM 2005 Reporting on the standby server first and then perform the un-installation on the primary node
4. Detach the SystemCenterReporting database using the SQL Server 2005 Management Studio
5. Install MOM 2005 Reporting on the destination computer which will automatically create the SystemCenterReporting database on the SQL server.
6. On the destination computer, detach and then remove the SystemCenterReporting database that is automatically created in Step 5 by the installation performed in Step 5
7. Replace the database that you removed with the original MOM 2005 reporting database that you detached in Step 4
8. Move the membership of both groups (SC DW Reader, SC DW DTS)
9. Use the rptutil.exe to import the MOM reports that you exported in step 1 using command-line rptutil /action:import /file:path\MOMReports.XML /URL:http://ip-addressof the server/ReportServer

Moving Reporting Services database from a SQL cluster to another computer running SQL Server & Reporting Services

Operations on the Source Server
1. Open SQL Server management studio, and then connect to the instance of SQL Server 2005
2. Back up the ReportServer database and the ReportServerTempDB
3. Back up the encryption key by using the reporting services configuration manager.
Backing up the symmetric key is a process that writes the key to a file that you specify, and then scrambles the key using a password that you provide. The symmetric key can never be stored in an unencrypted state so you must provide a password to scramble the key when you save it to disk. After the file is created, you must store it in a secure location and remember the password that is used to unlock the file. To backup the symmetric key, you can use either the Reporting Services Configuration tool or the rskeymgmt utility.
Since the reporting services configuration tool is more user friendly, let's look at the steps to backup the key
Star the Reporting Services Configuration Tool, and then connect to the report server instance you want to configure.
* Click Encryption Keys, and then click Back Up.
* Type a strong password
* Specify a file to contain the stored key. Reporting Services appends a .snk file extension to the file. Click OK.
* Copy the backup database files and the backup encryption key you performed in step 2 and 3 to the destination server

Operations on the Destination Server
1. Stop IIS service by running the iisreset /stop command at the command prompt.
2. Open the Reporting Services Configuration Manager, and then connect to the instance of SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services
3. Stop Reporting Services by clicking on "Server Status" and then click Stop on the Report Server Status Page.
4. Open SQL Server management studio, and then connect to the instance of SQL Server 2005
5. Back up the ReportServer database and the ReportServerTempDB database if they exist
6. Detach the ReportServer database and the ReportServerTempDB database
7. Restore the backup databases from the source server
8. In the Reporting Services Configuration Manager, make sure that the configurations in the following pages are identical to those in the source server:
a. Configurations in Report Server Virtual Directory
b. Configurations in Report Manager Virtual Directory
c. Type of service account configuration in Windows Service Identity
d. The Report Server configuration and the Report Manager configuration in Web Service Identity
9. Start reporting services by clicking on the Server Status in the Reporting Services Configuration Page
10. Start IIS service by running the iisreset /start at the command prompt
11. In the Reporting Services Configuration Manager, click the Encryption Keys, and then click Restore.
12. In the Encryption Key Information window, type the password you use to back up the encryption key from the source server, locate the backup encryption key from the folder on the destination server you performed in step earlier steps on the source server

Q.How do you size the database for systemcenter reporting database aka MOM 2005 data warehouse ?

Answer: To estimate the prospective Reporting database size, figure out how much your OnePoint database grows within a day. Multiply that number by the number of days worth of data that you want to retain. Then, double that number, to account for indexes.

For example: Let's say you want to retain 1 year worth of data and you have 500 (OML's) managed nodes, and at an average, each one of your managed node spits out approximately 1 MB (this is based on most of the MP's loaded on the MOM management server, your average data may be less and most unlikely to go beyond 1 MB) of data per day.

So, if you do a math based on the explanation above, it would come around something like this:

1 Node in one year will occupy = 1 MB x 365 Days = 365 MB of space

So, 500 nodes in 1 Year will occupy = 365 MB x 500 + 183 GB for Indexes = 366 GB of space.
The TempDB on the SQL Instance containing the OnePoint database needs to be large enough for one days growth.
Also, the SystemCenterReporting database log file should be the size of one days growth, multiplied by five to account for indexes.
Based on the previous example,
TempDB minimum sizing should be = 500 nodes x 1 MB = 500 MB or more
SystemCenterReporting database log minimum should be = 500 MB x 5 = 2.5 GB

Have you ever been in a situation where you have an ISO image, but do not have a reader ? You spend hours on the web and find a trial version which will expire in 15 days?

Well look no further, MS has a cool "unsupported" tool to mount ISO images for Windows XP. I even tried this on a server OS and works like a charm!

Here's the direct download from MS VirtualCDControlPanel enjoy!

Here's a quick update for those who have tried this tool on Windows 2008 or Vista and failed:

Please make sure you disable UAC before attempting to load the VirtualCD driver. If you are not sure how to disable UAC then follow the steps as described here.