Excellent system for monitoring

Pros

This has to be by far the best networking and services monitoring tool I have ever used. It is rich in features and it just works.

Cons

It is an amazing system and I would recommend to anyone. It is however a little time consuming to set it up, for some people even a little challenging.

Solarwinds npm

I have used multiple network monitoring softwares and there is no comparison with the support and quality of software with SolarWinds. A perfect monitoring tool with out of the box reporting and alerting with extreme customizations.

Pros

I have been using this software for a very long time and its graphical representations and reporting is so top notch and its very easy to install, configure, and troubleshoot and interact with highly skilled individuals on its Thwack Community and share and discuss new ideas and look for guidance/assistance and documentation with labs and we can collect points to exchange with gifts and certification vouchers.

Cons

Its a bit costly and fortigate firewalls are not supported completely to provide its site to site vpn details like it shows for cisco asa. It would be great to be able to monior our vpn and who gets in and out of our network.

Works well overall but can get slow over time

We use this software to monitor our network equipment and servers and for the price it works well for doing that.

Pros

Was easy to setup and maintain and their support seems to be great to work with.

Cons

Over time it gets really slow and the server needs rebooted. Nothing I've tried including putting it on a new server seems to rectify this.

Solarwinds NPM Review

This product is great when tuned and customized properly. We use it for alerting via email and for NOC (Network Operation Center) setups. For those not familiar - this is when you set up a large monitor in a "monitoring " room to view network conditions in real time. Custom NOC views allow you to present pretty much any monitored information on a screen. It also allows you to configure a single display monitor (perhaps a 70 inch TV/Display) that scrolls through multiple screens of valuable information.

Pros

Allows for customized views and alerts to really lock down your essential requirements. (The problem is most users do not customize)

Cons

I do not like that they promote how easily you can roll out this software to start monitoring your network. What they do not tell you that by doing a non customized quick roll out you will receive unlimited number of alerts to the point they will be ignored. By default the system shows you too much irrelevant information and it alerts on way too many general conditions. BE Warned - without tuning the alerts you will get many false positive alerts.

network management in minutes

Pros

SolarWinds NPM (Network Performance Manager) is one of the most gratifying products to use. After installing on a server, you can literally in minutes begin collecting actionable network performance if you have previously configured SNMP on your network equipment. Most of the products integrate, building on each other and adding more value. I have always been impressed with how their new versions add significant features and value for just paying maintenance on the product. Their online training is also very valuable.

Cons

More advance features will take more effort to configure and generate actionable results. You can easily be overwhelmed by alerts and syslog if you do not make an effort to manage what you really need to see.

Provides all the information that helps you with keep on top of your network before problems arise.

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.

Solarwinds NPM Review

Great software for network monitoring and good reporting for high-level executives.

Pros

It shows bandwidth utilization for your network devices. Can easily see nodes that are done. Good notification and alert features. Good reporting

Cons

Licensing is pricey License renewals Building custom reports can be a challenge, it's not that easy.

We use NPM to monitor our network stack.

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.

Network performance Monitor is a must have tool for any IT professional to succeed in their job.

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.

SolarWinds is a game changer

Overall experience has been great!

Pros

SolarWinds gives you the ability to automate certain processes and set alerts for other processes that allow you to focus on other projects and not be tied to your computer.

Cons

I don't really have anything bad to say about the product, but I would like to see the simplicity of using the product increase some.

Pricey but worth its weight in (insert item here)... Must have tool.

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.

Great network monitoring tool

I use NPM to monitor the health of the network routers and switches and the bandwidth used in the WAN links and switch uplinks. I also use it to monitor several Windows servers, including free disk space, memory and CPU occupation, the load of Hyper-V and VMWare hosts and the load, battery status and runtime of UPS devices.

Pros

It's very easy to setup and use and everything is configurable. It's really easy to configure dashboards and visualize every piece of information the way we want to. It can be used to monitor network equipment from a lot of vendors, as well as Windows systems and virtualization hosts and guests. Basically, anything it can connect to using SNMP or WMI.

Cons

It's not good at all to get information about endpoints. The information is unreliable: it doesn't find a lot of endpoints in the network, reports them with old IP addresses and in places where they are not connected anymore, etc.

Good, Solid Network Monitor

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.

NPM is a very reliable and powerful network monitoring tool

It can use some improvements, but still, in 8 years we've been using NPM on a service provider scenario, it has solved about 80% of our customers requirements for network monitoring. When complemented with other products from the same vendor, it provides maybe 95%, since there's always something than need a specialized tool.

Pros

In the world of enterprise network monitoring, NPM has one of the shortest learning curves, its web GUI is very inutitive and you can start monitoring your assets almost immediately. It's support for different monitoring mechanisms (snmp, wmi and agent) provides adaptability to mostly any network. It possesses a very robust engine to configure thresholds, events and actions, so you can get the proper reaction to different events. SolarWinds provides a very complete ecosystem of network monitoring and management tools with seamless integration.

Cons

The licensing model is not the best for a service provider scenario and it seems like the vendor doesn't even consider this option. Reporting capabilities are sort of buggy , specially when exporting complex and large reports. This tasks will also consume a lot of resources. There's an opportunity for the vendor to maybe decouple reporting capabilities to a BI module which can be deployed on an independent server, and maybe use for it a read only replica of the production DB.

Excellent Network Monitor, Very Intuitive

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.

Great product for Network Performance- but Software Experience a must

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

The Best of the Best

The ability to monitor, report. and alert on our Network Infrastructure.

Pros

Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) is by far the industry leader. The system is robust and offers real-time and indepth analysis of network interfaces, nodes, devices, etc.

Cons

The platform did some take some time to setup. Unfortunately, some of the alerting can be very vague. There are templated alerts, however, they do not fit the needs of our business. We spent countless man-hours in developing new alerting templates.

NPM is one of the better products

I am utilizing NPM, SAM and DPA to monitor our environment. NPM is used to monitor a mix of Cisco and Palo Alto equipment. We are monitoring nodes in about 12 sites (2 hubs and 10 spokes). Overall, the product is stable and features get added on a timely basis. If I had one gripe, I would wish that Solarwinds could move the product towards the cloud (ala Kaseya, LogicMonitor, etc). This would remove my need to run an application server and database.

Pros

Easy to use. Lots of features.

Cons

I wish the management and database were in the cloud and they used the "collector" model at the location to get the data.

Great tool to keep track of servers and when they are performing poorly, or not at all.

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.

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor Review

This tool helps prevent major Server downtimes with a great alert system. Every System Administrator should have this. I can't count the number of times it has saved me.

Pros

The features I like the most about this tool are the fast and easy deployment and the high-quality monitoring and alerting. Very nice UI, also very scalable.

Cons

The element base pricing is very expensive, can quickly escalate.

Solarwinds NPM easy to manage and setup. Easily integrate other Solarwinds Products

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) .

NPM - A Power Horse

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.

Solarwinds NPM Review

I am a network engineer for 6 years. I have been working a financial company which include hundreds of branches. We use NPM and we monitor all interfaces and nodes in our company.

Pros

smart dashboard, east to implement all node or interface, good alarm and report mechanism, sql base database

Cons

support fees, weak local developers and not exact negative command because it is really good.

Network Monitoring Tool

Pros

A)It is user friendly, Can monitor all kind of network device B) We can extract the daily, monthly reports as per our need. C) Generate alerts which can help us to trace the issue.

Cons

A) It is highly expensive compare to it's compititior. B) The customer service response time was highly lathergic. C) it's graphics were not as satisfactory

Solarwinds NPM

Pros

Solarwinds NPM is extensive. There are several features enabling you to have visibility on the network and its status.

Cons

Its not realtime. There is like a 5minute lag in alerts/polls on the same. This should be lessened to a an average of a minute

Feature rich

We use this to monitor client network. Mostly on the infrastructure side but can also be used to monitor services.

Pros

Excellent software for network visibility. Lots of feature for managing and monitoring your network.

Cons

Older versions we're lacking support for many devices. Fixed with recent updates

You get what you pay for, mostly

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.

I use the product every day and still feels hard to navigate .

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.

Great to have a view of everything

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

Monitoring network devices.

Pros

We use Network Performance Monitor because we need deep information about the operation of our network devices. The system works very well in our organization and I can recommend it to others.

Cons

The system is very good and complete, but also very difficult to use, the implementation of the system is also very difficult, it requires an experienced partner.

Works great!

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

Great Network Monitoring tool for organizations of all sizes.

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.

Networking monitoring made easy

Solarwinds NPM is an amazing network monitoring solution with a high level of automation. It comes with reasonale standard options and it's very easy to setup and get running.

Pros

Clean and intuitive user interface Flexible and adaptable visualizations and dashbords Automated discovery for network devices and topology Large collection of monitoring options Wireless heat maps Great reporting

Cons

Pricing can become an issue for large networks Some modules (like NetFlow) are optional and come at an extra cost

Looks and works great

Got us through a transitional period where we were short on IT staff.

Pros

It is a really clean solution that was easy to install and use. It is aesthetically appealing and I can better visualize my own network.

Cons

It does not really do anything that I could not do on my own, so it is really 100% bells and whistles. I would not recommend this software unless you are new to networking and you do not have the knowledge or manpower to manage/monitor an existing enterprise network. That being said, it is incredibly expensive for what you really get, but can be helpful if your use-case is a good fit.

An affordable yet powerful monitoring tool

Centralized network monitoring and troubleshooting portal that meets expectation

Pros

The in-depth analysis to a detected fault helps remedial ease resolution timelines. I like its 30 day full functional trial period, that helps one fully understand what he / she is buying.

Cons

The cost of the product can get hefty if not careful with the choice of modules you require. so to get the best deal, one need to have exact use case

Maserati of network monitors.

We all were much impressed with the product but after getting the quote, idea was dropped to continue with NPM.

Pros

An excellent, easy to deploy product with tons of features and great customer support.

Cons

It is not good for smaller networks as it is way expensive and they may not use it at the fullest.

Cloud based software for busy IT admins

Pros

The layout that shows the main issues on the dashboard is a great feature. This allows you to take the most serious tasks and rectify them first. The layout of the software is very user friendly and can be used by both beginning and advanced administrators alike

Cons

Not to much not to like about the software. One thing that would be nice is a way to add custom field for reports.

Many things are interesting but comes at a huge cost.

Pros

The details that it provides are huge and so many little intricate details to monitor and take care about. Gives peace of mind once installed properly for sure.

Cons

For a network monitoring tool, a little too expensive. Huge customization are needed at some step but not necessary that you might need to too.

I'm an IT Analyst who uses this software to troubleshoot our enterprise network infrastructure.

Pros

The level of detail included about network assets. It provides a wealth of information that makes troubleshooting a breeze.

Cons

Sometimes the user interface seems less than intuitive and can be a little confusing. There is a lot of information presented and often times I find myself forgetting how I navigated to a particular display.

IT of NPM

perfect for solving your network issues and live monitoring is awesome

Pros

perfect for monitoring an large scale environment. awesome yearly events to attend. easy to drill down in devices that have been configured

Cons

Difficult to setup initially, UI is abit intimidating at first .

Pretty good software, can be a bit laggy at times

Pros

Easy to setup and get going. Will scan your network and add devices automatically if you want. Interface is easy to read and navigate.

Cons

Can be inconsistent with reporting. Seems to lag up my system a bit and sometimes reports devices offline when they are not.

The best one in business

Pros

1) Real time health report and a microseconds difference is the competence i was looking for in the monitoring tools out there.

Cons

1) Prices could be cheaper but whatever keeps my servers afloat i can go for it, without much ado.

For Monitoring, Look No Further Than SolarWinds

Pros

Great user community/support community in THWACK - get anything answered, any time of day. Reliable alerts and metrics.

Cons

Can be a be difficult to set up. Look into consultants that do this for a living.

Easy management for 'hard to manage' devices and appliances inside your network

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.

NMS Solarwind

Pros

Accurate Performance to every network devices.

Cons

It takes 3 min of time to trigger the device down mail alert.

An effective tool to monitor almost everything on your network

This has been a great NPM tool and it our primary source to seek any network specific metrics.

Pros

Efficient dashboards and alerting system. Best network tracing capabilities.

Cons

Price. This price should be more reasonable, especially for smaller businesses to come on board.

Excellent product that provides greater value for the money

Pros

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

Love the product!

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.

Great Network Monitoring tool which is always coming out with new features

Pros

This is just one of the many suite of applications that SolarWinds offers to help manage the Network. Ease to use and helps diagnose / troubleshoot issues. Easy to automate alerts to notify you of problems afterhours. Great graphical interface as well.

Cons

Is more costly than other tools but worth the cost as SolarWinds will take less time to manage over time.

Simple and to the point, very concise when you need a minimal amount of information.

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.