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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Nmap

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/ANmap is a free, open source network discovery, mapper, and security auditing software. Its core features include port scanning identifying unknown devices, testing for security vulnerabilities, and identifying network issues.

    $49,980

    one-time fee

    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/ASolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is network diagnostics and troubleshooting technology, from Austin-based SolarWinds.N/A
    Pricing
    NmapSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Editions & Modules
    Nmap OEM Small/Startup Company Redistribution License - Quarterly Term Maintenance Fee
    $7,980
    Every Three Months per license
    Nmap OEM Mid-Sized Company Redistribution License - Quarterly Term Maintenance Fee
    $11,980
    Every Three Months per license
    Nmap OEM Enterprise Redistribution License - Quarterly Term Maintenance Fee
    $13,980
    Every Three Months per license
    Nmap OEM Small/Startup Company Redistribution License - Annual Maintenance Fee
    $14,980
    per year per license
    Nmap OEM Mid-Sized Company Redistribution License - Annual Maintenance Fee
    $19,980
    per year per license
    Nmap OEM Enterprise Redistribution License - Annual Maintenance Fee
    $23,980
    per year per license
    Nmap OEM Small/Startup Company Redistribution License - Perpetual License
    $49,980
    one-time fee per license
    Nmap OEM Small/Startup Company Redistribution License - 5 year prepay Maintenance Fee
    $59,920
    Every Five Years per license
    Nmap OEM Mid-Sized Company Redistribution License - 5 year prepay Maintenance Fee
    $79,920
    Every Five Years per license
    Nmap OEM Mid-Sized Company Redistribution License - Perpetual License
    $79,980
    one-time fee per license
    Nmap OEM Enterprise Redistribution License - 5 year prepay Maintenance Fee
    $95,920
    Every Five Years per license
    Nmap OEM Enterprise Redistribution License - Perpetual License
    $98,980
    one-time fee per license
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    NmapSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional DetailsAll perpetual licenses include a six-month trial period during which you can cancel for any reason and receive a full refund of all money paid (including maintenance). The term license is only a 3-month commitment and cal also be terminated with full refund during the first 30 days of the initial quarter.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    NmapSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Considered Both Products
    Open Source
    No answer on this topic
    SolarWinds
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    14 Answers
    92%
    Would buy again
    34 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    14 Answers
    89%
    Delivers good value for the price
    31 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    14 Answers
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    35 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    31 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    13 Answers
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    32 Answers
    Features
    NmapSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Network Performance Monitoring
    Comparison of Network Performance Monitoring features of Nmap and SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Feature
    Nmap
    5.3
    17 Ratings
    40% below category average
    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    -
    Ratings
    Automated network device discovery5.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network monitoring10.012 Ratings00 Ratings
    Baseline threshold calculation9.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    Alerts3.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network capacity planning6.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    Packet capture analysis2.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network mapping10.016 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable reports1.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Wireless infrastructure monitoring2.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Hardware health monitoring5.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    NmapSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Small Businesses
    Auvik
    Score8.8 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    PingPlotter
    Score9 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    PingPlotter
    Score9 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    NmapSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (18 ratings)
    8.0
    (142 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.1
    (6 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.0
    (9 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.4
    (7 ratings)
    7.7
    (9 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    NmapSolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Open Source
    If you're a sysadmin, or anyone who's had to deploy network services, you've almost certainly had to use Nmap at some point or other. Need to see what devices are on your LAN? Nmap can tell you that. Want to check which ports your web server has open to the internet? Nmap is your friend.
    Nmap is a powerful command-line tool and has many options that require some reading of documentation to get the best out of (although generally straightforward). If the thought of working at the command-line scares you (presumably not if you're reading this review), then you may want a much simpler tool, or at least check out Zenmap GUI.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    Network Configuration Manager is well suited for backing up configurations of all your devices. It also has a great comparison tool for seeing only the differences in config. Another great feature is it's ability to push a script to any number of devices. This is very handy for pushing changes to one, 10 or multiple devices. There are also some great reports that you can run against the devices in inventory
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Open Source
    • NMap provides a very fast and a very thorough network "sweep" that allows you to quickly map out exactly what's on your network.
    • NMap is highly configurable. The "canned" choices are very good in most instances, but using various switches and options, you can create a very specific scan and get exactly the results you're looking for.
    • NMap is easy to use. Even a new administrator will be able to use the graphical version (Zenmap) with efficiency right away.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • Integrates with Network Performance Management for Alerting and Reporting.
    • NetPath and detects issues due to Configuration Change.
    • Keeps a record of which user made the change.
    • Which devices are not being backed up, devices where backups are failing, dashboard and alerting available.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Open Source
    • The GUI version on Nmap could use some improvement with the options that are available to do scans. For example, they could make it easier to select options for the different types of scanning for people who are beginners
    • There are no abilities to schedule a scan in the Nmap tool.
    • An intensive scan sometimes takes too much time to complete.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • For our use case, it does everything great and some of the features we underutilize but I would like to be able to set a configuration baseline when initially adding a node instead of after the configuration is pulled but it's not a particularly big deal to let it pull the configuration then set it as the baseline.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds
    Medium complexity to set up in the beginning if using any non-standard devices or configurations, else fairly easy (e.g. Cisco Nexus or IOS-based devices). Reports are fairly straightforward to set up. Updates to the platform are fairly straightforward and don't take a major effort. Easy to add or remove devices.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Open Source
    Nmap uses are very practical and I don't think there is a better tools for what Nmap does. It is open-sources that therefore there is no cost to use it. It offers a number of benefits, including but not limited to network mapping, port scanning and more. It is very reliable as a network scanning tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    The user interface is lacking. It is difficult to navigate at times and things can be done multiple ways. Quite often I am confused by how their notification structure works. It is not very intuitive. They do offer a free Academy. They also offer a community of other technical folks. I have enjoyed both.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Open Source
    There is a very large support community and a robust selection of add-ons and scripts. Once you get the use down this is one of the most powerful tools and you can find anything you are looking for as far as examples on the web. While not having official support its not lacking by any means.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    To be fair, I have not had to involve Support in a number of years, but when I did, I was greeted with enthusiastic engineers who wanted to understand and solve the issue. It was a fairly complex scenario and I have discovered in my most recent implementation that engineering included that option as a standard now.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds
    Solarwinds has actually produced new training since I last used it that is available on their site at any time. Their previous training was more than enough to get us started but now there is significantly more content. Since I'm comfortable with the Orion platform and the products we use I haven't checked the new training out yet but we have new staff go through portions of that training and they always come away with an understanding of the platform and ready to use it
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    SolarWinds
    it was a fairly easy implementation and everything was pretty straightforward. only challenge we had was getting all the snmp communities updated on the networking equipment
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Open Source
    Alternatives to Nmap (other IP scanners) are often much more limited in what they can do; They often only allow you to scan a specific subset of ports or a limited number of IP addresses in one command. Nmap is unrestricted in that regard. What makes Nmap stand out above the rest, is the complete network analysis package you get with it. It allows IP scanner, network deep-dives, hardware analysis, vulnerability analysis, encryption detailing, and so much more, in one free application
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    At the time SolarWinds was the biggest player in the space and their whole portfolio was very comprehensive. As time progressed and newer technologies came about (i.e. SDWAN) their products couldn't keep up with the consumer demands and changing market. Security became such a big focus that once Solarwinds got hacked we had to remove all their products from our environment
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Open Source
    • Nmap with Wireshark is free, so it's been a great combo team to gather info and test.
    • It's allowed us to avoid fines from false positives and to fix actual issues ourselves.
    • Great for finding hosts, helps keep the network secure.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SolarWinds
    • Saves 100s of hours a year in man hours over manual configuration.
    • Saved easily 50k in lost revenue when a switch rebooted with months old unsaved configuration. NCM let us quickly restore a snapshot of the running config from the previous day.
    • Saves us several man hours per week of config auditing by reducing all changes to a summary email.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) Screenshots

    Screenshot of Network Automation -  manage rapid change across complex and multi-vendor networks, reduce time needed to complete repetitive tasks, and maintain standards and service levels for uninterrupted ITScreenshot of Config Backup - rest easy knowing you can locate the most current configuration and quickly apply it to a replacement spare, or to roll back a blown configuration.Screenshot of Vulnerability Scanning - Take the hassle out of vulnerability scanning using NCM's integration with the National Vulnerability Database and access to the most current CVE’s to identify vulnerabilities in your Cisco devices.Screenshot of Inventory Management - Be able to know what devices are connected to your network, their hardware and software configurations, and when they approach end-of-service and end-of-life, with NCM device configuration management tool.Screenshot of User Management - Use NCM's integrated console to lock down devices from unauthorized access, delegate who can view device details and make configuration changes, and determine when network changes can occur.Screenshot of Baselines and Diffs - IT professionals can get a more comprehensive view by leveraging baselines across multiple nodes. Diff view in NCM’s network configuration management tool is designed to highlight only those lines that changed.