SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Reviews

Our primary use case for this solution is the network configuration.

This solution has helped our organization by allowing us to store all the device configurations for the various network devices in NCM and making it easy for us to retrieve and look them over.

Network Configuration Manager is a component of the SolarWinds suite, primarily utilized for managing configuration items, particularly for devices on the network like switches and routers from various vendors such as Juniper or Cisco. It employs scripts to access these devices, enabling the copying of configurations to SolarWinds for archival and review purposes. Additionally, it facilitates making mass changes, offering convenience in managing configurations across multiple devices.

Through its primary functionality, NCM streamlines our network configuration and compliance processes. By consolidating access to this information, NCM eliminates the need to retrieve configurations individually from multiple switches. Instead, it provides a centralized dashboard where all configuration data can be conveniently accessed.

We leverage NCM for network change management purposes. For instance, if our organization mandates password changes every three months or monthly, NCM excels in facilitating this task. It enables us to simultaneously push password changes to multiple devices efficiently.

The real-time change detection capability enhances our network security by enabling us to monitor and track any modifications as they occur.

When it comes to managing configurations across multi-vendor devices, NCM has some limitations. It's primarily focused on Cisco equipment, making it less compatible with other vendors like Telnet or Extreme Networks. While it's possible to configure other vendor equipment, it can be challenging to achieve seamless integration.

We use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager for network monitoring and server monitoring. We work with several SolarWinds products, including Orion NTA, IPAM, SAM, NetFlow, and SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager.

The flexibility and reliability of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager are particularly valuable. It allows for a significant amount of integrations, including with collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams and Telegram, as well as ServiceNow and Microsoft BI. The solution facilitates compliance reporting through an NCM module, effectively generating out-of-the-box reports on software vulnerabilities and outdated software versions. Additionally, the real-time change detection feature significantly reduces the time to resolve issues by allowing alerts to be tracked through to resolution. The use of templates helps in deploying configuration standards, preventing configuration errors.

We use the solution to manage network devices such as Cisco switches, Palo Alto devices, and Cisco devices in our 34 offices worldwide. We use it to ensure that all configurations of these network devices are properly backed up across our network infrastructure.

We have a limited number of devices, mostly Palo Alto and Cisco devices. It covers all our network assets. SolarWinds offers additional functionality, including warranty management. This feature ensures comprehensive management of warranties associated with network devices, providing users with a holistic solution for network infrastructure maintenance.

I work with SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager as a significant part of our operations. Our primary use case involves handling configuration changes, especially within Cisco-related products.

Configuration pushing, upgrade capabilities, job backup, configuration backup, and real-time configuration change monitoring are highly beneficial features of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. Additionally, the product supports Cisco and other products well, enhancing its value in configuration backup and change management, including pushing configurations and managing upgrades.

It's primarily for network configuration. Our primary use case is for compliance, specifically patch compliance and backups. 

Backups are crucial for disaster recovery. Because of the backup, if I need to recover from any disaster, like a faulty switch, I can restore the switch configuration without starting from scratch. 

With a backup, I can flash that into the device along with the configuration, restoring everything as it was before the failure. 

NCM has the capability to back up the devices, which reduces my turnaround time significantly. If I need to come out of a situation, having a backup of the configuration makes it much easier. 

NCM also helps with vulnerability assessment and remediation. We can immediately remediate vulnerabilities on any specific switches or modules.

With respect to security and security standards, I want to ensure my environment is at least N minus one.

From a security standpoint, these devices are auditable, so I need to ensure patch compliance with security patches and manage configurations, such as enabled external and internal ports. All these compliance, I can manage it well with NCM. 

We use the solution in our organization. We also implement it for our customers. The tool is used not only for monitoring purposes but also for device management. We can back up the running and startup configurations for all vendors. It’s the main use case of the tool.

The product is also used for network automation. If we want to configure the network devices, we can put the configuration in thousands of devices through the tool. It enables automation. The client mainly uses the automation features.

Sometimes, we have to push the configuration into 50 to 100 devices. We usually configure it on one device and check its compatibility for one to two days. If everything works well, we make rules and push the configuration into 1000 devices.

If we want to check something available out of the box, we create rules using the command in a policy. These rules can then be embedded in the policy, and the policy runs against the node. It will help detect vulnerabilities or check anything particular in the devices.

The backup and configuration-pushing features are valuable. We also use the product for vulnerability management. It provides out-of-the-box vulnerability policies. It provides a list of CVEs and helps us understand which CVE is more vulnerable. The tool is useful for security purposes.

I started working with compliance six to seven months ago. I have worked on compliance reports for some Cisco devices. The compliance features are fine. The product detects compliance well. If we find any compliance or vulnerability issues in the devices, we can correct them from the SolarWinds console. We can create some rules to detect issues. If there is a need for alteration, we can do it directly from the console.

The primary use cases include configuration compliance, backup and restoration procedures, configuration change management, vulnerability management for core devices, and inventory capture of network devices.

The primary benefit of using SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is its ability to save time and improve productivity. For example, in the event of an outage at a branch location, such as a bank with multiple branches, having network configuration backups allows for quick restoration of settings on a new device, eliminating the need to configure from scratch. This feature significantly reduces downtime and streamlines the recovery process.