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Filter 49 vetted N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central) reviews and ratings
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April 06, 2021
N-Central helps our company manage our clients' servers and workstations remotely as well as help automate routine tasks. It is being used throughout the entire organization for remote management and troubleshooting. It helps us solve the problem of being able to manage clients' systems without the need to physically be onsite.
- Patch installation.
- Customization of monitoring services.
- Automation of routine tasks.
- Reporting very much needs to be improved. This is by far the weakest point of the product.
- Two factor authentication on built in accounts is awkward or not available.
It is used by multiple departments, but primarily by the service desk folks that use it day in and day out. Primary function is to provide quick remote access to the endpoints. The hidden features are the patching and alerting. The automation tool is fairly good, but there are some areas [for] improvement such as using MSI. The lacking support of mac products changes with each revision, but is slowly gaining some improvements. The trust in the platform was weakened with the breach, and the endpoint clients are a bit gun-shy.
- Endpoint access.
- Patching.
- Some basic reporting.
- Apple product support.
- Scripting for apple.
- Removal tool of the agent is hit and miss.
We use N-Central to manage AV, patching, and to provide remote helpdesk support to our clients. We also make heavy use of automation via Automation Manager and powershell.
N-Central has provided us with an avenue to increase revenue and to provide a fantastic support model for our clients. One of our clients is a bank, and they are routinely audited for both Microsoft and 3rd party patching. Since we started with them they've passed their patching audits with flying colors, and with their previous IT provider and WSUS they routinely failed.
We also make heavy use of the reporting and alerting features. We send weekly AV reports and monthly Executive Summaries to our clients. We've also integrated N-Central with Connextwise so tickets are automatically generated should a device have an issue.
- Reporting
- Alerting
- Patching
- Remote Access
- I'd love for more built-in automation manager scripts
January 19, 2020
We use the SolarWinds N-able N-central product to manage all of the customers we provide IT service to. It is used to monitor our client's networks, manage and maintain their assets, and to provide remote support.
- Remote tasks - entry-level techs can run basic tasks without physically touching a piece of equipment.
- Remote support - remote controlling user devices is easy and saves a lot of time with having to initiate a remote session.
- Management of devices, particularly patch management and anti-virus management - you can automatically approve and deploy patches and schedule automatic AV scans.
- Support - their customer support is extremely lacking. This goes all the way up to management. Entry-level techs provide scripted or cut and paste answers, which is not a bad thing, but there is almost always a back and forth process that happens before you can get to a real solution. The biggest issue with this is that it seems as if they only want to respond to an issue once every day - it is not uncommon for support issues to take a week or more to be resolved.
- Security features - Ncentral does not have very granular security. Users have a role, and basically anything under that role is game. We don't want all techs to have access to a clients Active Directory, but they would still need the ability to have remote access for example - there is no way to lock down specific features.
- Solarwinds N-able seems to be more focused on sales than customer satisfaction. It feels like pulling teeth to get responses to support issues or concerns, but salesmen will be relentless when it comes to needing to meet their quota.
January 14, 2020
We are using this with our managed services practice. We have roughly 20 customers that we support through N-central. It gives you device monitoring (Workstation, server, network equipment, printers, etc) and allows for remote access to workstations and servers. You can set alerts to email or chat (we use Slack) so you can stay notified of any issues in your environment.
- Remote access through Take Control.
- Backup Manager is built-in.
- Antivirus builtin.
- Automation tool.
- A steep learning curve.
- Alerting needs some help. Alerts can take up to 20 minutes.
- It's pieced together from different software, and sometimes that shows.
We use it to manage our clients. Through N-central I can deploy patches remote into computer run remote fixes and even manage antiviruses. I can see the status of my client's devices at a glance and resolve the problems fairly quickly
- Patch management.
- Remote support.
- 3rd party application deployment is hindered by application size.
We use it daily in our support department. All of our technicians and sales staff have access to the N-central console for access to company assets and current device information. Servers and workstations are monitored daily. We also use it for easy windows patch management control, third party and script deployments as well as remote control of monitored devices.
- Great deployment, training, and support with the product.
- Windows patch management is excellent.
- Great monitoring software with the added benefit of easy remote control options built-in.
- It is a large piece of software and does take some time to get set-up and configured.
- Limitations with some basic monitoring like site down/internet down and server state make it difficult to have accurate monitoring information.
- Reports and reporting are minimal, not very customizable and not pretty.
August 27, 2019
My organization leverages N-central for our centralized managed services hub. We leverage most components of it including automatic remediation, powershell automation, antivirus module and the basic security modules. We have found the software to overall be easy to deploy for the NOC, however, the backup module is a bit archaic and the remote agent for snot support multiple screens simulatanously which most other tempting solutions support but there is enough value in the suite that it is worth using.
- Very easy deployment, all of the modules play with each other making it simple to place AV, screen tempting and management agents all in one spot.
- Automation of powershell module is great and a feature that others in this space do not have
- Linux based appliance is great if you have security conscious.
- Very easy to brand and change the look and feel of the agents and console
- Very good multitenancy separation and ability to push policies to every tenant or selectively.
- Backup module is very archaic, does not support memory based backup or hypervisor based updates, very geared towards individual workstations
- Use within a VDI infrastructure is challenging for deployment of the agents
- Most of the AV policies that come from defender are limited to working on workstation OS and not on servers.
- Reports have a weak look and feel to them and could use some data modernization, this is a place where others in this space have a huge edge over N-Able
July 27, 2019
We purchased SolarWinds a few months ago with a specific task in mind—monitoring our POS terminals, as well as servers and certain key workstations. So far the product is great and the monitoring works very well (once you dial down the alerts and tweak the thresholds when an alert is triggered). The product can monitor almost anything as long as you can make a script for it (it has a built-in tool to do just that).
- Monitoring
- Patching
- Providing an overview of issues using custom dashboards.
- The custom automation app can be a bit intimidating to use
- Some things are located in places you would least expect it.
- Building the dashboards is tricky at times.
July 20, 2019
N-central is like a Swiss Army Knife, it is an agent-based system (monitoring can be done without the agent) with many talents and capabilities, and it is very good at what it does. It has many core features, such as:
- Remote management, control of endpoints.
- Monitoring.
- Patch management.
- Centralized anti-virus management (via Bit Defender).
- Backup.
- others...
We mostly use it for Remote management and patch management. The service desk team uses the remote management feature to provide desktop support, and the patch management team uses the patch management feature to provide fleet patching of servers and end-user devices.
Aside from addressing the two needs above, it is also a very good platform for pushing software and scripts to endpoints. This is especially useful in non-centralized environments that do not have core infrastructure, and in VPN tunnels, since the agent communicates directly over the internet. It is also very firewall-friendly.
- Robust patch management: it is easy to set up patching groups via tags, and configures patch management profiles and maintenance windows.
- Remote Control: as long as the agent checks in, it is very quick and easy to take control of an endpoint, either in a separate session (RDP, kick the current user out), or to join the existing session of the current user, to provide desktop support or collaborate remotely.
- Patch management reporting: while the patching feature is strong, the reporting side of it quite limited and can be inaccurate. There is no built-in way to easily demonstrate to the customer that you have successfully patched their endpoints, and this can result in a lack of customer confidence. In order to provide effective patch management reporting, it is necessary to export raw data into another tool and perform further analysis.
- Old UI: while the software has evolved through many versions and many features added, its UI is pretty much the same as before. There is no quick way to pull up devices which match a number of different criteria. You can do this by creating a filter, but when you have to create a filter, it is not quick anymore. The menu can be confusing to navigate. As a regular admin of the tool, I often forget exactly where to find items which are buried a bit deeper under the menu hierarchy.
- Bulk management: this is also an effort of the weak UI. Since there is no way to quickly pull devices that meet certain criteria, there is no quick way to easily make bulk changes to devices. Everything is done through rules and templates and tags, and it can take a while to set them up.
- No Access to OS: the tool is presented as an application only, and the vendor does not give you OS-level access. This can make it difficult to see the health/performance of your N-central server and to set up remote monitoring.
- Permission and Access: SolarWinds improved access granularity in version 11, but it still has a lot of room for improvements. When setting user roles and access, I often find that I can never give them the exact amount of access I want. I typically end up giving them a lot more due to the lack of granularity.
September 14, 2019
We use it for asset management, desktop automation, patch management, and remote support.
- Patch management.
- Windows probe.
- Remotely take control support.
- Windows versioning.
- Mac automation.
- More integrated scripts/amps.
February 07, 2019
N-central works as a monitoring and remote access tool for managed services companies. The software allows very customizable alerting including server and workstations and their disk space, processor usage, memory usage, event logs, as well as hardware. The system is very dependable and easy to use and intuitive for the expert setting it up and the technician who utilizes it for support.
- Very customizable alerting and threshold setting to quiet noisy alarms
- Hardware monitoring is an intricate process in many monitoring tools, N-central makes it quick and easy after installing the appropriate software on the server(s).
- Easy to navigate interface that allows quick view of items needing to be addressed and the ability to drill down into clients and their devices.
- Remote desktop access tool could use some help. Several other monitoring systems have perfected the remote access process but N-central can be a bit slow.
- Patch management system could use some additional features/customizability.
January 29, 2019
Our service desk uses it to manage internal computers and computers for our clients. We use this tool to manage and update machines. We also use N-Central to remotely connect to user's machines to troubleshoot issues or complete updates.
- Allows for easy remote connection.
- Will display statistics and information for the machines.
- Allows the ability to push out software or updates without interrupting a user who is working.
- More advanced search options for machines
- Ability to see information about pending updates for a machine
- More detailed info about hardware issues/errors
November 05, 2018
SolarWinds N-Central has been implemented across our entire organization as a single platform for hardware inventory, remote support access, and reporting needs.
It allows multiple departments access to the same IT equipment database meaning the service desk can easily access user machine profiles to access remote support options and back-end support tools while the procurement department and account managers can use the same database for hardware inventory and software licensing reporting.
It allows multiple departments access to the same IT equipment database meaning the service desk can easily access user machine profiles to access remote support options and back-end support tools while the procurement department and account managers can use the same database for hardware inventory and software licensing reporting.
- SolarWinds N-central is an excellent tool for automation and deployment across thousands of network devices using the Network probe and Agent.
- SolarWinds N-central allows for constant monitoring allowing us to resolve issues before the client knows they have occurred.
- SolarWinds N-central has excellent integration as we use it in conjunction with Autotask for automated ticket logging based on alerts.
- SolarWinds N-central could benefit from a modular or customizable user interface.
- There is a steep learning curve if you wish to truly utilize all the functionality that N-Central offers.
We use N-central for a variety of end user/endpoint purposes. We monitor laptops, desktops, and servers. We deploy security patches with n-central. We monitor suspicious activities with n-central. We also utilize n-central for anti-virus. We group internal devices, customer-facing devices, as well as various portions of the infrastructure within the GUI interface.
- Endpoint monitoring.
- Deployment of security patching.
- Deployment of agents on new assets.
- Group policy integration.
- Initial setup/categorization of devices.
- Pricing per device.
- Holistic monitoring and AI of devices.
October 17, 2018
N-Central is a key product for managed service providers who want to monitor every network device available. It allows us to be more proactive with our clients and increase our revenue by fixing problems before the clients know there is a problem. The automation within N-Central is top of the line, it allows our technical staff to save time and make us more profitable.
- Actively monitors devices on the network to allow us to be proactive
- Can automate different fixes for recurring issues
- Integrates very well with our PSA client, able to create tickets and fill out notes within N-Central.
- We find the layout and configuration could be more user-friendly, seems over complicated at times
- We need to host the solution ourselves to get the Report Manager add-on.
- Dashboard needs to be cleaned up and easier to read
August 10, 2018
We use N-Central solely in our MIS department. We replaced the Kaspersky Remote Administration Console as well as GoToAssist for internal remote management sessions. We have many remote plants and users and use this tool to do remote sessions, check software and hardware inventory and patching levels as well as usage and performance reports.
- Remote control sessions are seamless and quick to connect.
- Software inventory list is very complete even including windows update patch levels.
- The amount of data N-Central gathers from the end-PCs is great for a performance snapshot and makes it quick to diagnose simple RAM issues etc.
- Navigation between the view screens could be a bit simpler. Once you click a machine your list goes away and isn't simple to get back to.
- I would love to add more negative points here but really it's a well-built piece of software.
N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central) Scorecard Summary
Feature Scorecard Summary
What is N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central)?
MSPs
and IT professionals use N-able™ N-central® to monitor and manage devices and complex
networks remotely. N-central provides
visibility and efficiency as the user's needs scale. N-central can help users:
1. Proactively monitor everything on a customer network—not just servers
and workstations—and troubleshoot.
2. Stay on top of threats with features like MFA, antivirus, integrated endpoint
detection and response, data backup, disk encryption, email protection, and
password management .
3. Automate routine tasks using rules and filters to customize policies by customer, site, or device type to gain precision and control.
N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central) Screenshots
N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central) Video
SolarWinds N-central: One Powerful IT Management Platform
N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central) Competitors
N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central) Support Options
| Free Version | Paid Version | |
|---|---|---|
| Phone | ||
| Live Chat | ||
| Forum/Community | ||
| FAQ/Knowledgebase | ||
| Video Tutorials / Webinar |
N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central) Technical Details
| Deployment Types: | On-premise, SaaS |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems: | Windows, Linux, Mac |
| Mobile Application: | Apple iOS, Android |
Frequently Asked Questions
What are N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central)'s top competitors?
Datto, ConnectWise Automate (formerly LabTech), and Kaseya Traverse are common alternatives for N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central).
What is N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central)'s best feature?
Reviewers rate Usability highest, with a score of 8.8.
Who uses N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central)?
The most common users of N-able N-central (formerly Solarwinds N-Central) are from Small Businesses and the Information Technology & Services industry.