We use SolarWinds to get traffic visibility, job visibility, and traffic flows from all our outsources. We generate the traffic that we select within our network to show you.
We use it to generate the traffic that each location produces. We configure the flow on all the outputs in the branches and remote locations. The NetFlow will transport the traffic and send it to the SolarWinds server. This provides us with visibility into network activity, including the traffic generated, ports used, and communication partners, as well as whether we are exceeding our subscribed bandwidth. If we need more bandwidth, we allocate it accordingly.
The SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer will show us the traffic and let us know if we are maxed out. It helps us know when a branch is down because it has a graphic presentation of all the locations a node represents. The node shows different colors, and the branch is up and running when the echo is green. If it is amber, it means that the network is not perfect. When it is red, the network is down, and we need to investigate and troubleshoot to know what the issue is. It also sends us emails when a branch is down, which we can configure to send us alerts. If there are JitsaaS, it will notify us. If one of the links is down, it will also notify us so we can fix the issue. It's very good.
There is room for improvement when it comes to the traffic generated by the analyzer and the analysis of that traffic. They need to work on it more because when it generates traffic, SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer doesn't show the source and destination IPs, which is essential to understand. It only shows the ports being used and what they are communicating with. SolarWinds does not have a monitoring solution for this, so they need to include a feature that can show where the IPs and systems are communicating, as third-party solutions can do.
There is a definition system that defines bad websites to your standards, and when your system communicates with that system, it flags it. However, SolarWinds cannot do that. It only shows you the telemetry, and there's no more visibility into what is happening outside the network. If you are connected to an IP outside your network, you won't know what it is.
It doesn't have any intelligence to add to the flow. It's just slow. It needs to be more of a robust tool that adds intelligence to the flow. When it shows you the flow, it should be able to tell you if the traffic is harmful to other sites.