When a monitored object, such as a computer or distributed application, goes offline for maintenance, Operations Manager 2007 detects that no agent heartbeat is being received, and as a result, may generate numerous alerts and notifications. To prevent these alerts and notifications, place the monitored object in maintenance mode. In maintenance mode, alerts, notifications, rules, monitors, automatic responses, state changes, and new alerts are suppressed at the agent.

For general instructions on placing a monitored object in maintenance mode, see How to Put a Monitored Object into Maintenance Mode in Operations Manager 2007 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=108358).