Network Performance Monitor Software

Pros

I can pull up any piece of networking information in a matter of seconds. There is not a big learning curve.

Cons

Sometimes it seems to be too minimal, some features that are present in other network performance monitors are lacking in SolarWinds' version.

Pros

Fast, clear status of performance and possible outages.
Easy integration with other tools and custom alert mechanisms.
A focused company who is very involved in making great tutorials.

Cons

The GUI is starting to look dated, it could use a complete overhaul.
License needs can be tricky to determine.

Pros

The dashboards are incredible I am able to troubleshoot the network quickly and efficiently right down to the node.

Cons

I wish there was a way to see what an IP belongs to on the exterior of our environment like a whois this Ip

Management of firewalls, routers and printers.

Pros

Real time follow up of changes. Every time I change something, like an IP address or moving to a new Site, this software allows me to maintain and updated map. Something hard to achieve with other vendors.

Pros

Easily monitor network devices and their performance .Track for network issues and have to ability to narrow down issues to specific ports. Easily customize view to show only what I need to see.

Cons

Not able to limit events across solarwinds platform to only devices I need to monitor. Have to manually Setup maps. (option to purchase mapping software separate) .

Pros

You can not fix something you do not know is broken. NPM allow you to be notified as soon a any component you are monitoring goes off line. Its a game changer for IT pro's trying to get a handle on their network and hardware.

You can trust this software to watch over the network while you perform other tasks. If there is an issue, you will be alerted immediately

Pros

Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor gives you in-depth details about every server and switch. Once it is installed and configured, you just sit back, relax and engage in worry free monitoring of your network (unless of course it gives you an alert)

Cons

It is very expensive. The company that I worked for that used SolarWinds had no issue spending the money though, so after I left it was like leaving a family member behind.

Pros

This is a full featured product with many optional add on modules to keep a "single pane of glass" for IT departments.

Cons

Finding personnel with fine tuning experience, education and knowledge is somewhat difficult at times, making many implementations half completed.

Pros

Being able to monitor and receive real time information about known devices on your network as well as having the forecasting ability so that you can plan for future growth easily.

Cons

Some of the alerts may require you to do some customization in order for them to work. Licensing for some of the modules may get some what pricey if you go into a higher level tier.

Pros

Right out of the box, admins can begin using this software. Alerts are already configured for common needs such as when a server goes down, or when it reboots. Disk space, CPU and RAM usage, etc.

Cons

Can be a bit difficult to discern which variables do what when formatting alerts and email notifications. First initial load of the portal takes a few minutes. After the initial load, portal loads fast each time, until the next day.

Timely alerts and warnings that keep our network and server infrastructure running smoothly.

Pros

Once it's set up, NPM is pretty easy to configure and monitor just about anything with a network adapter/connection. We purchased the SLX version which means we can monitor as many nodes/elements as we want. Email alerts are timely and help us stay on top of outages and server capacities. Been using this for 5 years now and it just doesn't the job. Can't forget about the customer SQL alerts either. Great job here!

Cons

You need SQL server for this. If not using an Express version, that's more costs. The SLX version is expensive compared to other solutions.

The ability to constantly monitor the health of my network.

Pros

What's not to love? Deep, Reliable, and an absolute monitoring beast. I use this daily - DAILY - to monitor my company's environment. The awareness that it gives you is bar none the best around.

Cons

Cost can get hefty depending on how many modules you use. If your company is in a lucky enough position to accept the price, then you are in for a treat.

Being able to forget about the network 24/7 and rely on it to notify us when something is wrong.

Pros

Ease of install, ease of customization, and easy to learn based on the interface. Without training, I was able to pick it up and run with it.

Cons

The cost is the only concern I have. You buy modules based on what you need, and I think one package with all would make life easier.

Pros

Complete network monitoring tool. Allows you a near single pane of glass approach to you network. You have details and i mean details about every server, switch, I even have my consumable good inventory vending machines monitored with NPM. Detailed level for switch ports and routers, Cisco UCS, HP, DELL, and the list goes on and on. When there is no identified MIB, you can create your own. You can label your undefined items so they mean something to you. The Agent for servers installs on Windows and Linux and is SO EASY. It offers WMI, SNMP and ICMP monitoring as well as the agent which gives you several flavors to monitor equipment. Ease of use is good, interface is above average, and saving my score is 1000 out of 10

Cons

For me there is only one real things that gets me with NPM. Licensing. SolarWinds has a great set of products, but the licensing costs are really high. Even a small company needs this software but its hard to justify. The way they count nodes against your license total is in my opinion unfair. I think of a server as a node, and everything on that server should be covered as 1 node, but they see everything down to seems like the vlans on a switch port, but to be clear it is not counting vlans. However if you have 2 48 port switches, that is 96 nodes, you want to monitor, guess how fast your 100 node license gets used up. But the price to jump up is super crazy expensive. They need to rework that.

Pros

Monitoring for all endpoints available
Uses SNMP V1-V3
Alert notifications available for email distribution
dashboard for NOC or super user

Cons

Have to figure everything out yourself. Solarwinds does not provide much training on the configuration of the system to fully maximize it. The refer you to a outside consultant to setup the system. Support is pretty limited because many of the issues revolve around how it is setup. Which they would provide more training with the purchase of the product on how to fine tune the software for your needs

Pros

Ease of installation. Product Support in clubs I've of upgrades. Great online training and folllowup

Seemed easy to use.

Pros

The software can do just about anything you need. Very in depth and helpful product.

Cons

As I said above. The software is very hard to navigate and use. I access it everyday and it is still doesn't feel smooth.

Pros

Network Performance Monitor (NPM) is an excellent tool to get a overview of the how you network is performing. The setup is easy and if there is something that is confusing or causing trouble it can be solved using google search or heading to the Thwack community provided by Solar Winds.

Cons

I don't hate the product but some of the UI features are quirky, and haven't gotten used to yet. There does seem to be a lot of customizability but figuring out how to get the setup how you want it seems to take too long to do.

Pros

Very intuitive interface. Easy to use. Real time alerting is awesome. Reporting functionality is always on par

Cons

The software tends to use too many server resources causing the application to fail and disrupt ease

Solarwinds Network Performance has been excellent for monitoring my mix of Cisco and Brocade Equipment.