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Cisco UCS Manager vs SolarWinds NPM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco UCS Manager
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
24th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds NPM
Ranking in IT Infrastructure Monitoring
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
155
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (4th), Cloud Monitoring Software (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the IT Infrastructure Monitoring category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS Manager is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds NPM is 4.1%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Infrastructure Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Joshua Kurian - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 8, 2024
Used to manage servers, monitor or manage firmware upgrades, and push policies
The solution's SDK and API can be integrated with ServiceNow for ticketing for any purpose. The solution's unified management interface is a central point of management that allows us to manage switches, blades, and storage connectors. One person is enough to maintain the solution. The speed of the network interface has been 100 G since day one. The network is scalable, and GPU nodes can be added seamlessly. Cisco is claiming to support water cooling in the near future. The solution can be easily integrated with other tools and platforms. Compared to Dell, Cisco UCS Manager provides straightforward configuration, reusable policies, and flexibility. Dell lacks a proper GUI for configuring everything. Cisco has only one GUI, which allows us to configure everything, including the network server and server profile. Before releasing each model, Cisco should conduct proper testing or engineering validation to ensure that the customer doesn't face any issues initially. Overall, I rate Cisco UCS Manager a nine out of ten.
MohitKumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 30, 2022
High-level, comprehensive, and proactive monitoring in a user-friendly interface
Our company uses the solution to monitor NPM for 100 large accounts that typically have 40,000 interfaces.  Basic monitoring includes CPU memory, errors, and interfaces. Advanced monitoring includes F5 load balancers, in-depth tunnels, and AP alarms.  We also monitor CM for backup parts and…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Cisco Infrastructure is one of the top vendors and no one can beat them in terms of switching and routing."
"I can deploy something in my 50-odd servers all in one go, in parallel, whereas if I was to do that individually, it could be a nightmare."
"The management is one of the most valuable features of this solution."
"Creating UCS service profiles for quickly deploying servers and replicating that configuration to another server makes it easier for deployment."
"From a usability and functionality perspective, Cisco UCS Manager is very good."
"Cisco UCS has different layers of security, and you can do multiple installations of your LIAMs on top of the server and Blade. You can install VMware, Windows Server, Hyper-V, etc."
"The interface is ergonomic and native. We can use UCS Manager to do all the configurations for the servers, including storage, networking, and all the other components we need inside the fabric. It's simple and flexible."
"I can quickly manage the provisioned servers."
"It's a very good tool and a very stable tool."
"The alerting and reporting capabilities of the tool are impressive"
"A product that is well-tested and trusted in demanding situations."
"The most valuable feature is the way it monitors the environment, and how user-friendly the console is for the end-user. The interface is also very easy and it captures all the information very well."
"We have configured multiple alerts for our network devices, including routers and switches, so that we are notified if any interface goes down."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the alerts."
"We can proactively fix historical issues, so we won't face those problems in future."
"It is very extensible with 'SWQL' and APIs to where we are beginning to integrate it with network automation."
 

Cons

"Cisco UCS Manager is not a scalable solution because once you have 160 blades, it cannot be expanded more."
"We have three data centers and if we could manage all three data centers using one interface, it would be great."
"Improving functionalities similar to InterSite within UCS Manager would be beneficial."
"The solution's pricing is high and could be reduced."
"Cisco UCS Manager should have a simplified deployment in the sense of not having multiple machines, demilitarized zones, and on-premise options."
"I found it a bit of a challenge to get training on UCSM. I've been trying to get that for some time now. I feel like I have to figure it out a lot of things myself. For years I've to log calls with support whenever I've got challenges that I cannot resolve. If I had some training or more manuals, I'd be better able to handle more things on my own."
"Getting a CLI report on routers, switches, or any other CLI configuration device is difficult."
"There is room for improvement in the software part of Cisco UCS Manager. It should be more user-friendly, especially when creating policies."
"I would like to see integration with antivirus or other security endpoint solutions."
"The integration needs to be improved."
"The console could be more user-friendly. It would be better if SolarWinds updated the user interface."
"Each model has different features, so clients need to purchase a separate model for SQL monitoring, database monitoring, network traffic analyzer, HTTP traffic, etc. So each feature they need is in a different model, but customers would prefer an all-in-one solution."
"The integration with the APIs and the web servers deployed can definitely be improved."
"I think Solar Winds NPM needs to create a profile with documentation responsibility."
"The solution's customer service is not very good because the support takes too long."
"An area for improvement in SolarWinds NPM is the short retention period. Currently, it's just for seven days of data, which is very low, making it hard for my organization to keep that data. SolarWinds recommended a seven-day retention period, but my organization needs a fourteen-day data retention period. Hence, I'd like an increase in the retention period or the database limit in SolarWinds NPM because you can't go back to the data for any investigation if seven days have passed. Another area for improvement in SolarWinds NPM is the database, which needs to be a bit more mature. I want a modified database in the next release of SolarWinds NPM. I'd also like more options added to groups because, currently, it's very limited."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco UCS is more expensive than Dell and HP, but it is more reliable. I see less issues and it's quite stable."
"With product discounts which can be negotiated, the product is a great value."
"You buy the hardware and then you get Cisco UCS Manager for free."
"We need to take a license for each port, which amounts to a big sum."
"The pricing for Cisco UCS Manager is okay for its market, so it's a four out of five for me."
"Cisco UCS Manager’s annual licensing fee is expensive."
"The cost is based on the number of nodes, so it is expensive when you have a lot of them."
"The solution's pricing is low compared to a lot of other tools in the market."
"Though I don't remember the price for SolarWinds NPM, its price is somewhat okay when you compare it with other tools in the market. The price isn't too high and isn't too low, so it's okay."
"There can be fees in addition to the licensing fees if you add on."
"It is expensive."
"SolarWinds NPM has different pricing models available. The cost of the solution is less than some competitors."
"The solution can become very expensive and commercially not viable in countries, such as India."
"I think that the cost has risen, but the functionality and versatility is way above other products."
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Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 31, 2015
Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor
I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
32%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
56%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Government
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco UCS Manager?
When one server fails, we can attach the service profile to a new server, which saves a lot of time.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS Manager?
Cisco is the most expensive compared to other vendors like Dell and HP when it comes to data center solutions.
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS Manager?
There are options that could make configuration and administration easier. Improving functionalities similar to InterSite within UCS Manager would be beneficial.
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
It actually depends on the exact purpose or kind of devices (network devices, servers, something else). Some tools are better for only network devices while others are better for a cloud monitoring...
What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
We are partners with SolarWinds and we sell a lot of Network management to large enterprises also because of scalability, products like Network Performance Monitor & Netflow Traffic Analyzer ar...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor, SolarWinds Network Bandwidth Analyzer
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Management Science Associates, Peak 10, Virtual Consulting Professionals
Microsoft, Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, and MasterCard
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS Manager vs. SolarWinds NPM and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.