SolarWinds NPM Reviews

Our primary use case for this solution is for default of the stability of the network track.

If we need to plan the network, or measure our network utilization, SolarWinds enables us to do so. 

One of the best features is the reports feature. We can get an editor's report for the last five minutes, fifteen minutes, hour, month, or more. And, the correlation data that we can get from the different resources of data from routing, routers, swtitches and samples is really a benefit.

It would be nice to manage all network devces from just one single platform, instead of going to different platforms.

The solution is very stable. 

It is very scalable. For years we have not had a problem with scalability.

I am looking at other solutions, to compare. For example, I am currently looking at ManageEngine OpManager. We also looked at Zabbix

I would like to see this product becoming more flexible in the future. In addition, integration with other solutions would be helpful.

The ability to monitor multiple devices using SNMP v3 and HP Procurve SFlow as well as multiple setups for different technicians.

We only use SNMP v3 and all of our devices are HP. Not every technician needs to see everything or have control of everything.

Technicians are aware of issues and 90% of the time exactly what caused the issue. Repairs can be scheduled ahead of time and RMA’s can be filed without the technician having to drive to the site only to find out it is a bad power supply or fan in a switch or server.

The speed needs improving. If you have a very large network and are monitoring a lot of devices the dashboard responds slower.

We have been using the solution for almost four years.

We had some stability issues.

We had some scalability issues. The cost for monitoring interfaces is ridiculous.

Technical support is not exactly the fastest. You create a ticket in the morning and probably get a response by e-mail from the actual technician the following day.

We were using Intermapper previously.

The setup was straightforward.

The pricing for monitoring large amounts of equipment is not bad but when you want to monitor the actual interfaces of those devices the cost goes up.

We did not look at any alternatives. This was a government project and only one company responded to their request.

Make sure you have several servers. You must have the actual platform on a separate server from the database. You will need a separate database server for each module you activate such as flows. There is a very big footprint.

• If you are almost in the dark, SolarWinds can give you a quick view of what you have and you can start basic monitoring.
• The user interface is good.
• You can build a live inventory of the equipment you manage.
• You can start structuring and digging deeper into Network Performance Management and Diagnostics.

• It helped to bring a basic monitoring in place that could be a platform for additional information you need to manage a large IT infrastructure.
• IT network visibility can help the organization a lot.
• It provides a buy-in from other IT groups (database, Windows, applications)

Scalability: In general, the scalability for most organizations is OK.

The product is also used by larger companies and TELCOs. They encounter scalability and stability issues. You need a dedicated person or team to keep everything under control.

We have used the base product for more than 12 years.

You certainly can have stability issues. The system runs on Windows Server and a dedicated MS SQL Server.

You need a lot of polling engines for larger networks (50K+ interfaces). This will consume additional resources, such as licenses, support, and patching.

SolarWinds does not provide professional services. You have to rely on partners that provide this service.

If there is an issue, you will have a pretty slow response. You need access to the SolarWinds portal to register a ticket.

In general, the response time of SolarWinds should be improved.

In general, it is mainly switching from open-source systems to a supported system.

The initial setup worked fine. This depends on the system and scale you are trying to implement.

General advice is to build the monitoring as a layered approach.

Add devices/systems by categories, starting with basic monitoring ICMP and SNMP, and then add specific metrics to the system.

The pricing depends on what company you are. If you are you an enterprise or TELCO, the pricing is really great.

If you are a smaller company, it can become expensive and also complex to get it running.

For SMBs, you have to sit down and think what you are going to do. Some companies outsource a lot to get rid of the IT pain.

• Create a very simple requirements list.
• In general, do not start a paper comparison.
• Install the product or let someone help you with the install and configuration so you will get a quick start.
• Do not try to find out everything yourself.
• Based on what you have seen, you can build the so-called "gap analysis".
• If you go for SolarWinds, it will not solve all your IT problems. You will also need complementary tools.

• Overall simplicity
• Solarwinds development of the product line

• It's provided us with a quicker turn around time for diagnosing and remedying a failure or issue
• The pre-built templates for Windows are outstanding
• If you're new, they tell you what the metrics mean and the possible solutions
• You can also modify baselines it to your environment.

It needs group views with performance metrics. They do certain ones well, but not filters to a custom group view.

I've used NPM and SAM for five years.

No issues encountered.

Data collection can be an issue so you have to maintain that accordingly.

None yet.

Customer service is pretty good.

Tier 3 is excellent they know how to repair a problem.

We had Openview for the network side but the cost forced us to switch and it has actually ended up better for us in the long term.

It's very straightforward and super easy to deploy, 15 minutes tops. It's documented well what you need, or there's an option you can do if you're on a limited budget. Also, the support engineers are always there to help with specific questions.

We implemented it in-house.

It paid for itself within six months, when compared to our previous solution.

We did not track it but it was less than four hours worth of total effort. Day to day cost of using the product US$273 given our current licensing model.

No other options evaluated.

Get the trial download to use its all the features for 30 days. Its automation/DevOps is outstanding for its software development kit.

Historical interface statistics & historical storage utilization.

I have been able to catch network/server issues before they became critical. It also enables me to free up disk space on a critical drive before it completely runs out of space. Tickets can be pro-actively opened with carriers when we see CRC's and errors on interfaces. Lastly, I can quickly identify spanning tree and/or routing issues by watching syslog & trap messages.

Reporting functions are limited & difficult to modify.

Over 7 years

No issues encountered.

Not anymore. Years ago I would frequently have issues after performing software upgrades, but over the last 3 years that has improved significantly.

Not much, but I have had issues with our SQL database becoming fragmented over time & having to engage a SQL expert to address it.

Over all customer service has always been timely, helpful & friendly.

Overall tech support has been timely & helpful whenever I've needed assistance. I've opened literally dozens upon dozens of tickets over the years and most of the time I get the answers I need on the first call.

Previously WhatsUp Gold.

Setup has always been very intuitive & simple.

In-house implementation.

Not sure how to quantify that, but it has been well worth the cost in my opinion. The problem is getting my co-workers to actually use it.

Depending on the number of nodes to be monitored, take careful steps to size the polling server & SQL server appropriately. If at all possible, use a dedicated SQL box. Also, take the time to configure all of your network devices to send syslog & traps to the NPM server.

SolarWinds NPM is useful for any company that has business-critical applications running over a network and they want to monitor the network behavior.

The solution could be more secure.

I have been using SolarWinds NPM for approximately eight years.

The solution is stable.

The solution is scalable. 

We have many large global customers using this solution.

The support could improve by being quicker.

The solution is easy to install and it takes a couple of hours.

To do the implementation you need to be at an engineering level. 

I can do the implementation of this solution myself.

There is a permanent license and also a subscription level which has annual fees. The price of the solution is fair.

I would strongly recommend this solution for others.

I rate SolarWinds NPM a nine out of ten.

Graphical presentation of IT data like Bandwidth Util, CPU/Mem Util. etc., Easy way to configure the monitoring etc

This tool can monitor all IT Infrastructure i.e. N/W, Application and basic OS monitoring, Hardware Monitoring etc. Also we can integrate all Solarwinds Solutions on same console called EOC which will helpful for Data Center Operation teams to monitoring.

Also the graphical reports and content of reports also helps the client and OS/Applications teams to measure the challenges in advance.

Solarwinds SAM needs to improve application monitoring for critical applications like MSSQL, Oracle, Exchange etc. They need to add more monitoring parameters.

Since 2009

Yes, have faced few issues while up-gradation of Orion products. But handled successfully with great support provided by Solarwinds.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

It’s fantastic. They will give 24/7 service.

It’s fantastic again. They are very knowledgeable and have KBs available for the fix in advance.

No, as NPM it is cost effective and reliable to use.

I have implemented it on multiple client locations. Also took the help from Solarwinds in installation.

ROI for Solarwinds products is excellent. It’s the cheapest tools which will fulfill all monitoring needs.

5000 USD per NPM Poller for unlimited license.

Yes, CA, BMC and HP monitoring suites.

It’s cheap and will easily fulfill the needs of monitoring environment.