#1 most frequent
United States of America
77.3%85 installations of 110
What is SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA)?
SolarWinds Netflow Traffic Analyzer is a network monitoring tool within the broader SolarWinds ecosystem. It includes core traffic monitoring features, as well as customizable traffic reports and alerts.
Categories & Use Cases
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Who Buys & Uses SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA)
#2 most frequent
Canada
5.5%6 installations of 110
#3 most frequent
India
3.6%4 installations of 110
SolarWinds NTA (Netflow Analyzer) Review
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We utilize SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA) for a variety of reasons. It does a good job with Bandwidth monitoring by identifying network congestion and potentially what is causing the congestion. It ties in flawlessly with our Cisco gear and environment. We monitor our switches, wireless controllers along with our network Servers. It helps us keep track of the resources our network gear and servers are using and have available. Part of the monitoring function is the alert portion, which allows us to set minimum/maximum alert status, then send us an alert if the device or service exceeds (or fails).
Pros
- Monitor network device status (up, down, fail state)
- Help identify network congestion, both cause and location.
- It's graphical display of our network and the various nodes and levels assists with overall network management and design by giving us a birds eye view.
- With the monitoring function along with the ability to "see" network devices, service and issues, it helps tremendously with troubleshooting, both performance related issues along with complete outage problems.
Cons
- Some of the default settings for bandwidth utilization are too low, causing alerts to be generated much too frequently. These can be manually adjusted, which is good, a bit higher tolerance would be helpful.
- The built in help is good for basic setups, but as you get into the weeds more, it is less intuitive and assistance is required.
- The initial setup of the product does work, but they should state that the minimum requirements are really not what you want to build it on. You should plan for the higher requirement out of the gate so adjusting and making changes is not required once it is set up.
Return on Investment
- It has been very beneficial for us because we can now monitor our entire network with a single point of reference. It also offers incredible granularity with what you can monitor.
- It works well with all of our products, we've not encountered a product or device that we can not monitor and log.
- Because of the large all encompassing monitoring ability, it allows us to better plan for future expansion or maintenance cycles.
Usability
Alternatives Considered
Wireshark
Other Software Used
CrowdStrike Falcon, Cisco Duo, Brightly Asset Essentials™
Excellent for data replication and bandwidth monitoring
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer to monitor our many office locations across the world. This allows us to monitor bandwidth, network load, and traffic flow to various services. This tool also allows us to monitor and tune backup replication across sites as well so we can optimize performance and not get behind on replication.
Pros
- Performance Analysis for services
- Customizable reports and dashboards
- Bandwidth alerting and monitoring
Cons
- Cross compatibility with other applications.
- Better cloud monitoring
- Action automation
Return on Investment
- This has had a very positive effect to our cost saving efforts
- We are able to keep ahead of traffic flow issues
- Replication and backups are consistent and more efficient.
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) and IBM Tivoli Monitoring
Other Software Used
SolarWinds Storage Resource Monitor (SRM), SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM), SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor
Best tool in the Network monitoring space
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use this tool to analyze network traffic flow. This tool provides visibility into application traffic and allows us to see it in real-time and historically to provide real insight into what is actually occurring if we are experiencing difficulties with our applications. The tool can analyze many different network protocols as/vendors. It is good at tracking SNMP, packet data, etc.
Pros
- Providing insight into flow based technology
- Provides insight into problems with packet based technology
- Can really help with an abnormal data flow mapping
- Wirks well with other Orion products
Cons
- Cloud monitoring is lacking
- Better reporting and filtering capabilities
- Stronger integrations with other 3rd party products
Return on Investment
- Reduce time on any investigation
- Improved software compliance requirements
- Reduced staff frustration resolving “network problems”
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft System Center and IBM Tivoli Monitoring
Other Software Used
IBM Security QRadar, Tenable.io, Palo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA)
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA) has been an integral and important part of our IT environment for over a decade now. Our organization has utilized the NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA) tool for monitoring and overseeing the enterprise-wide network and system data flow. NTA has become the primary tool for our administrators and engineers to review the processes, patterns, and traffic performance throughout the network.
Pros
- Tracks network traffic
- Monitors network performance
- Records network processes
Cons
- Graphic conflicts with certain browsers
- Compatibility issues with particular applications
- NTA SQL database server OS suitability a must.
Return on Investment
- Providing real-time network analysis daily
- Visibility on network latency and high bandwidth usage
- Monitoring threats and suspicious network activity
Solarwinds - An excellent NTA
Pros
- Easy to configure and roll out.
- Great history available, I can see detailed history on a link which helps with troubleshooting.
- Graphs available are great, excellent for management.
Cons
- SolarWinds as a whole is extremely resource hungry.
- General user interface issues, some things are not intuitive.
- Price is fairly high.
Return on Investment
- No more time spent chasing down slow network issues with no resolution
- Capacity planning of links
- Ability to forecast potential issues
Other Software Used
Splunk Cloud, Proofpoint Email Protection, Lansweeper
