NetApp Active IQ vs. Splunk Enterprise

If you have a NetApp or multiple NetApps, then you SHOULD use NetApp Active IQ. It is an invaluable tool. It acts like another FTE in our environment by keeping us informed. NetApp Active IQ is an excellent product; there are always areas for improvement based on evolving customer needs. NetApp Active IQ is a compliment to NetApp, pure and simple! Keep it linked at all times and make your account managers a part of your team; the product works so well, give your account managers something to do, have them keep you informed and have them help you update. I have seen a major change in NetApp account teams; they want to support their customers! Good Job NetApp!

Incentivized

I'm liking the newer products, and I'm looking forward to how they integrate with the overall product when they come together. Just log in and be able to query a large number of systems for similar issues or a unique one. That is a great fit for Splunk Enterprise, looking for a simple case or a simple String or something of that nature across multiple machines. It's a great fit for that to identify issues or particular software, whatever your scenario is, String, to find it across any particular server or group of servers, so that you can update or do a deployment or whatever it is you're looking to do.

Incentivized

• Makes us aware of configuration issues we wouldn't easily be aware of otherwise.
• Generates automated documents guiding us through patching and upgrades to prevent problems.

Incentivized

• It is very useful in creating custom rules for analyzing system logs and display relevant information. The query language is very easy to learn.
• We can create custom UI to visualize the output of our data. The interface is very flexible. It also allows the sharing of rules among users.
• There is an open online community to help others. Stackoverflow also has a splunk community. These resources make it more convenient to learn.

Incentivized

• Full Stack Visibility - go beyond just the storage layer
• Integration with 3rd party Observability Platforms
• API Accessibility to create custom dashboards
• Improved reporting and customization
• More Granular Security and Compliance features

Incentivized

• Splunk light limits number of users to 5. Wish there was a flexible license, where one could add more users.
• Splunk light does not let you add > few realtime alerts. Wish there was a flexible license, where one could add as many realtime alerts as wanted.
• Better insight into daily ingestion values

Incentivized

We are using Splunk extensively in our projects and we have recently upgraded to Splunk version 6.0 which is quite efficient and giving expected results. We keep track of updates and new features Splunk introduces periodically and try to introduce those features in our day to day activities for improvement in our reporting system and other tasks.

Despite some interface issues, it mostly accomplishes what we need it to accomplish - give us a heads up on problems in our environment and prepare us for upgrades/patches.

Incentivized

You can literally throw in a single word into Splunk and it will pull back all instances of that word across all of your logs for the time span you select (provided you have permission to see that data). We have several users who have taken a few of the free courses from Splunk that are able to pull data out of it everyday with little help at all.

Incentivized

When properly setup and configured, Splunk is extremely reliable.

Incentivized

Splunk maintains a well resourced support system that has been consistent since we purchased the product. They help out in a timely manner and provide expert level information as needed. We typically open cases online and communicate when possible via e-mail and are able to resolve most issues with that method.

Incentivized

The online course was simple clear and described the main capabilities of the solution. There is also an initial module that can be done for free so anyone can familiarize themselves with the functionality of this solution. On the other hand, however, there could be more free online courses. Maybe even with a certificate, this would broaden the group of people who are familiar with the platform while increasing familiarity with the solution itself.

Smooth without too many major issues.

Incentivized

You can see the list of tools above; NetApp Active IQ is a compliment to the tools. Not one monitor will take care of all your needs. I am ok with 3 dashboards for my environment. SolarWinds rotates in NOC mode, NetApp Active IQ is up on its own with all the NetApp's registered, and the Palo Alto Dashboard which monitors for vulnerabilities and risks. The tools work hand in hand in the environment, working both North/South and East/West, letting us know about anomalies, risks, and pending tasks to schedule. I love ALL my tools working together; lets me sleep really well at night!

Incentivized

A lot of products have natively inside their own dashboards and or their own logging repositories. And each one is difficult to learn or they're too complex or they're not verbose in the sense that they're not easy to mine the data that you're looking for. So that could be anything from the native logging that you find in other Cisco products. It's easier to use Splunk to draw the data that you're looking for as opposed to going to the individual's products themselves to get the logs that you're looking for.

Incentivized

Splunk can scale in to the petabyte per day range which of course is awesome

• It has caught problems on our clusters before they became true issues. It was immensely helpful to be aware of the problem so we could resolve in advance.
• It has provided specific steps to mitigate issues during patching and upgrades that we wouldn't have otherwise known about.

Incentivized

• Splunk has allowed developers to diagnose production issues when access of control was taken away from them to be allowed to view items in production environments and I believe that is invaluable.
• At times some developers weren't super happy about using it, but it was more of the fact that they were used to having production access and not creating their splunk queries to get information.
• Going one place to view logs was very beneficial to have.

Incentivized