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Easy Installation and Configuration: Many users have found the installation, configuration, and use of Solarwinds Network Configuration …
Overview
What is SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)?
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is network diagnostics and troubleshooting technology, from Austin-based SolarWinds.
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- Tech Details
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What is SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)?
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) can help save time and improve network
reliability and security by managing configurations, changes, and compliance for routers,
switches, and other network devices.
Network Configuration Manager enables IT Pros with:
Network Configuration Manager enables IT Pros with:
- Out-of-the-box support for major network device vendors, including Cisco®, Juniper®, HP®, Huawei®, F5®, Avaya®, Ruckus®, and more.
- Automated bulk deployment of standardized device configs.
- Automatic backups of device configurations, and rollback to the last-known good configurations, if necessary.
- Identifying IOS® devices with potential vulnerabilities, utilizing the NIST CVE repository service, and even provides the tools to manage the investigation, remediation, or waiver of each vulnerability.
- Auditing device configs for NIST FISMA, DISA STIG, and DSS PCI compliance.
- Built on the Orion® Platform, NCM provides the ability to purchase and fully integrate with additional network monitoring modules (network performance monitoring, NetFlow traffic analysis, WAN management, VoIP, device tracking, and IP address management), as well as systems, storage, and virtualization management, all in a single web console.
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) Features
- Supported: Configuration Change Automation
- Supported: Configuration Backup and Restore
- Supported: Change Monitoring
- Supported: Change Management - Roles & Approval
- Supported: Baselines and Configuration Drift Monitoring
- Supported: IOS Vulnerability Scanning
- Supported: Compliance Assessment and Enforcement
- Supported: Network Insight for Cisco Nexus
- Supported: Network Insight for Cisco ASA
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) Screenshots
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) Video
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Overview
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) Integrations
- SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor
- SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer
- SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)
- SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA)
- SolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
- SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM)
- SolarWinds VoIP & Network Quality Manager (VNQM)
- SolarWinds Virtualization Manager (VMAN)
- SolarWinds Storage Resource Monitor (SRM)
- SolarWinds User Device Tracker
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) Competitors
- ManageEngine OpManager
- Cisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued)
- DX Spectrum (formerly CA Spectrum)
- RANCID
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) Technical Details
| Deployment Types | On-premise |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Windows, Windows Server |
| Mobile Application | No |
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) Downloadables
Frequently Asked Questions
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is network diagnostics and troubleshooting technology, from Austin-based SolarWinds.
ManageEngine OpManager and Cisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued) are common alternatives for SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM).
Reviewers rate Solarwinds Premier Support Rating highest, with a score of 9.5.
The most common users of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
Easy Installation and Configuration: Many users have found the installation, configuration, and use of Solarwinds Network Configuration Manager to be easy. They have mentioned that the product has a simple and intuitive setup process, allowing them to quickly get started with it.
User-Friendly Reporting: Users appreciate the simplicity and ease of reporting provided by Solarwinds Network Configuration Manager. They find generating reports to be a straightforward process, thanks to the product's user-friendly interface. This allows users to easily access and analyze the necessary data.
Seamless Integration with Other SolarWinds Products: Users highlight the compatibility of Solarwinds Network Configuration Manager with other products from the same company. It seamlessly integrates with other SolarWinds tools and can run on the same server instance. This unified experience provides users with a cohesive workflow and enhances their overall efficiency.
Confusing User Interface: Some users have expressed frustration with the user interface of the software, finding it confusing and difficult to navigate. This sentiment is shared by multiple reviewers who feel that the interface hinders their ability to quickly find information and perform tasks efficiently.
Slowness of Orion Platform: Several users have complained about the slowness of the Orion platform, particularly when additional modules and nodes are added. This issue has been raised by a significant number of reviewers, highlighting the need for improved performance optimization to enhance user experience.
Limited Vendor Support: Users have expressed a need for better support for multiple vendors in the software. They feel that currently, there is a lack of vendor-specific equipment profiles and features for non-Cisco devices. Multiple reviewers have suggested expanding the range of supported devices to make the software more versatile and suitable for diverse network environments.
Users of Solarwinds configuration manager have made several recommendations based on their experiences with the product. The three most common recommendations are as follows:
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Make it easier to access saved config comparisons - Users have suggested improving the accessibility of saved configuration comparisons. This would enable them to quickly refer to previous configurations and compare them with current ones, aiding in troubleshooting and auditing processes.
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Explore Thwack for inspiration from other users' experiences - Users recommend exploring Thwack, Solarwinds' online community platform, to learn from other users' experiences and gain insights into best practices for using the software. This can help users make the most of the features and functionality available in Solarwinds configuration manager.
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Add more support for different vendors - Users have noted that while Solarwinds configuration manager is a useful tool, they would appreciate additional support for a wider range of vendor devices. Expanding compatibility and incorporating more device types would enhance the software's usefulness for a broader user base.
These recommendations highlight areas where users find room for improvement or suggest ways to enhance their experience with Solarwinds configuration manager.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-25 of 34)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
We use Solarwinds Network Configuration Manager primarily for the network configuration backup use case. We have it pull configurations on a daily basis from our Cisco Catalyst/IOS/IOS-XE/Nexus/WLC and Fortinet devices, both running and startup configs. We also use it to send daily config change notifications showing a diff between the previous and the current versions. Finally, we use it to send us weekly emails whenever there is a difference between our running and startup Cisco configs, meaning the config was not saved to flash.
- Pulls down configurations of network devices
- Provides diff reports/emails, comparing previous and current configs
- Customizing isn't as straightforward as one would expect, could be made simpler
November 14, 2022
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager review
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is used to pull backups of network devices. We also try to use it to also push code to out of the box devices, which speeds up setup time. Additionally, we use it for mass code pushes to 40+ switches (VLAN additions, updates, etc.) I have saved countless hours of manual work by utilizing SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager in our environment.
- Backups
- Scripting
- Mass updates
- N/a
- N/a
I manage the network by myself so NCM has made my job much easier simply by automating the downloads and triggering an event when the configuration has changed. I use the config compare to review changes that I have made to ensure that the change has been made correctly. It is almost like I have another employee helping me keep all the configurations in order AND keeping an eye on what changes I have made!
- Automated Download of every configuration per your schedule
- Notifies end user when baseline configuration does not match the current running configuration.
- Easily manage the baseline configurations so that you can keep all information up to date
- Beautiful dashboard red = bad green=good at a glance you can see if something is not quite right
- Odd Hardware that does not have a "startup-config or running-config" per definition; it would be nice to be able to edit the rules to be in compliance for startup-config matches running-config
- Policy violations are only targeted at Cisco equipment
- Firmware vulnerabilities only target Cisco equipment
NCM is being used as our central device change tracking application. It is used to centralize and control our internal processes related to network device configuration change management. The application helps us know who can and does make changes to network devices. It also plays a central role with internal auditing of device configurations policies. The chief advantage of NCM is in the ability to schedule configuration backups jobs and track device configuration changes. Being able to execute a policy audit report related to DISA STIG, PCI, SOX, or other rule sets is also a huge time saver.
- Archiving of device configurations. This is the most basic of features for NCM and provides an easy way to maintain startup and running configurations for all network devices.
- NCM can execute scripts. Any task that is typically done by a technician from the command line is handled by NCM. This includes the ability to schedule script execution jobs against a single device or multiple devices.
- NCM provides several types of reports out of the box. These include configuration change reports and inventory reports as the best examples.
- One can easily perform a "stare and compare" of two device configurations so as to quickly and easily determine where changes have occurred.
- For those people who may not be proficient at using regular expressions, NCM needs to evolve to provide more direct contextual help in this regard.
- The job logs that NCM provides are very utilitarian and do not lend themselves to viewing and searching well at all.
January 25, 2022
Centrally manage all network devices using Solarwinds NCM
We use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) to manage all of our network devices in data centers and branch offices. It has been used for devices configuration backup and version control. The scripts management tool is quite useful and we have been using it for configuration central deployment.
- Monitor the current status of network devices
- Devices configuration backup and change tracking
- Push out configuration automatically
- The configuration change template could be more user friendly
January 20, 2022
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager review
I use it to manage the compliance of our network devices to configuration hardening standards. Our information security program requires that all our network devices, routers/switches/firewalls/etc, have a defined security hardening standard defined and implemented. As a member of the team, I had to come up with an easy way to measure and demonstrate device compliance to defined standards. I tried setting up regex checks against configs stored in ansible but that required all configs to be in ansible, which they weren't, and so I found myself working edge cases and relying on others who had better things to do than help a security guy. I tried a few config managers including the managing engine NCM, which I used for several years at a previous job, but then migrated to the SolarWinds NCM. I like the SolarWinds NCM interface better and since it is part of the Orion suite and our network team was using Orion I was able to add it to their deployment. If I'm being honest I prefer the management engine interface better but found the functionality to be identical between the two. Most valuable thing is having all the device configs available for testing without relying on other teams.
- Manage network device configurations
- allow for customization of network device hardening standards
- visualize the compliance status of your network device configurations
- The user interface could be more intuitive
- a stable Linux version would be great
- better and faster performance
January 20, 2022
Network Configuration Management Made Easy with Solarwinds NCM
We use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) at our core and distribution to track configuration changes, since it's a module for Orion it provides a single pane of glass for the team. We have real-time configuration change monitoring enabled for the equipment with SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) enabled so once a change has been made we have a record of the change and can easily revert changes from SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) or do a comparison if needed. Previously we had used other products but the setup was more difficult and not all equipment was easily supported whereas SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) has support for a majority of the devices we use out of the box without any additional configuration or customization, although that is an option if needed.
- Keeping previous configurations
- Tracking configuration changes
- Configuration reporting
- Real-time configuration change tracking via trap notifications
- 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.
January 20, 2022
Making Networks Better
SolarWinds products suite is our defacto systems and network management tool. We use NCM in particular, for Edge user device vulnerability detection, network auditing and inventory management. Operating in rural environments with lack of expert skills for network configuration changes, NCM provides us the ability to automate our configurations and changes across desperate user community networks. As a result, we have better visibility, superior control, and early vulnerability detection.
- Network Auditing.
- Network Inventory Management.
- Vulnerability Detection.
- Network Configuration Automotion.
- Threat Management.
- Edge Security Management.
- Cloud and Application Performance Acceleration.
- SD-WAN and Cloud Management.
- Agent less client device management.
January 19, 2022
Powerful Network Configuration Management
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) is used by our Network Team to backup our Network and SAN switches configuration files. Jobs are scheduled to backup running and startup configs. NCM is also used to push out config changes to all our switches without manually logging into each switch. NCM also detects unauthorized changes to out configuration and email alerts are configured to detect version mismatch.
- 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.
- More automation options, in incase backups fail or unauthorized config changes [are] detected.
December 11, 2020
NCM is Kinda Cool!
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use it to maintain CIP-governed assets environment and non-CIP ones. It allows us to monitor our many assets connected on our network. We can deploy agents via Orion and monitor them all in one dashboard. It is used only in our department while Corporate IT uses another tool.
- NCM grants admins easy to use dashboard for all facets of monitoring.
- It has many built-in templates that can implemented easily for polling.
- Offers users canned reports and alerts.
- Some reports were created in old proprietary software that is now obsolete.
- Is somewhat of a bear to set up.
- Has many different modules that can be used but may require additional licensing.
December 09, 2020
NCM great product to add to your toolbox
The Network Configuration Manager is being used by the information technology department every day. The software provides a single pane of glass for our network infrastructure. We use it for our network switches, our firewall and other pieces of equipment. Network Configuration Manager allows us to update our critical infrastructure without intervention. It also backs up all of our configurations for the same to your critical infrastructure.
- Config backup.
- Vulnerability scanning.
- Network integrations.
- Monitoring.
- Usability.
- User interface.
- Reporting.
December 09, 2020
4+ year user loves the product for specific tasks, but has accepted some fairly major flaws as reality
NCM is being used within our department as well as the department responsible for the design of the network. NCM is being used to push mass changes to all of our network gear and to enforce configuration standards. It is also being used as a recon tool by running show (recon) commands on gear to have a quick but detailed look across the organization.
- Configuration Standardization
- Quick and Mass Configuration Changes
- A better implementation of using variables in jobs would be awesome.
- Being able to take the output of a command and feed it into a second command.
November 12, 2020
Network configuration management made easy!
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) is being used by our IT department, both in Israel and the US. It helps mange configuration changes of our network equipment worldwide, mainly for Cisco firewalls, load balancers, switches, and other network equipment. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) helps us prevent issues with unwanted, accidentally entered configurations and meet compliance requirements.
- It is very good for managing configuration changes.
- Helps protect from unwanted changes.
- Very good with compliance.
- User interface can be more user friendly.
- Reporting has room for improvement, as is key in such software.
Network Configuration Manager is used by the IT department to manage all network devices in the organization. It was put in to address inconsistent patching levels and to give a better view into the network as a whole. Since the department is small, it is a valuable tool.
- NCM Maintains a DB of the devices and their current configuration.
- Automated backups of configs.
- Notification of changes to configs outside of maintenance windows.
- I would like to see the initial seeding of the DB more tightly integrated with NPM.
- Better integration with vendors for patch management.
July 15, 2020
NCM Worth a Try
Primarily as a config backup and change comparison tool. We do not use the automation scripts as much out of fear of automated changed to network equipment.
- Change identification
- Backup
- Visibility to authorized users
- Licensing. Bought a 500 node license to manage a US only deployment. However that 500 node/device license only allows 500 ports/items to be monitored. That seems a bit restricted. I understand you need to make money but if I want to buy 500 nodes, at least allow me to monitor 5x ports, etc.
- Expensive remote worker servers. I already paid for an unlimited deployment, let me have the remote servers so performance statistics are measured close to the source. We have 80+ global locations but we have to measure everything from our data center server. Not useful to our remote site technicians trying to measure or monitor local performance.
We use it to back up all of our network configurations, approve and deploy changes via scripts, track versioning and generate device reports. NCM is used across the organization as it represents a comprehensive solution to our network configuration needs.
- Automated Backups. It makes backing up network devices simple to do and easy to manage
- Change approval. When implemented correctly, it can provide an extra layer of assurance to network-related changes as they will have to be approved by someone else. This ensures that changes are not made in a bubble and at least two sets of eyes have reviewed it.
- Creating an easy to read device version report, with custom fields is relatively simple to do and can give project managers a greater understanding of the time it may take to perform a task, such as ensuring SNMPv3 or updating code levels due to bugs.
- Automate the creation of new hierarchy's within devices according to the year for backs.
- Allow scripts to be assigned to certain groups so that when users log in, they only see the scripts that they are allowed to use.
June 04, 2020
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Evaluation
SolarWinds Network Configuration Monitor is currently being utilized and deployed within our company as a replacement for RANCID. NCM is currently only being utilized by a small department of the IT team with the expectations that it will be expanded. NCM is being used to build a solution that is not only capable of backing up all of our network devices regardless of vendor but also to allow multiple teams across the organization access to the configuration files in an easy to utilize and controlled manner.
- SolarWinds NCM is able to backup all our network devices, regardless of vendor.
- SolarWinds NCM gives us a powerful tool to search configuration files.
- SolarWinds NCM allows us to verify and enforce network standards on a daily basis.
- More search options and abilities; Being able to utilize regex easily would be a huge plus
- A more intuitive wizard to build your own scripts for pulling configuration files
February 25, 2020
NCM - Network automation made easy
At our organization Unified communications & Enterprise Engineering groups use this tool on a daily basis. It is great tool with multiple use cases such as managing, maintaining Network configurations. It also features Script Automation and Config Change management.
- Script management. The ability to save scripts & script results in this tool is a great.
- Change management. The feature to compare old and new configurations which gives us a good graphical glimpse of what changed with respect to configurations.
- This tool comes really handy if an engineer wants to SWARM config. changes.
- Configuration comparison.
- Configuration display.
- Color coding change comparison.
November 22, 2019
NCM...12th man on the field!
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) serves several purposes within our organization. We use it as a real time notification and auditing service. Anytime configuration changes are made we receive an email alert notifying us of the configuration change, timestamp, and the user that made the change. We also use NCM for configuration comparison. We often run into scenarios where configuration changes were made by several engineers over the a period of time. NCM allows us to compare the current configuration with any previous configuration and identify differences in a single view. We can also compare configs with other similar devices to see what is missing. I know a lot of people use Notepad++ for this feature but NCM allows us to do this with just a few clicks as opposed to downloading the each config and importing into Notepad++. Finally we use NCM as a configuration scripting tool. We often rotate security settings on all of our systems, as part of our security policy. NCM allows us to quickly execute this change across thousands of devices.
- Configuration Comparison Tool is great since you can quickly compare configs in a single pane of glass. To make things easier to identify, NCM will highlight the differences.
- Vulnerability reporting on all current versions of Cisco IOS/NXOS software. NCM will identify the version of firmware you are using and also list the most well known CVE vulnerabilities that are associated with each version.
- I appreciate NCM is vendor agnostic. It will consume configs from any network device. It can also be customized to look for certain strings that are missing or to look for certain strings that are present. Very flexible and since it isn't vendor specific, I don't feel like I'm being forced to buy a certain manufacturer to obtain all of the 'features' like I do with other products.
- Improve the visibility into other popular platforms beside Cisco. It does seem to be Cisco leaning just a little.
- Baseline management is a little clunky. I'd like to see it made just a little more user friendly. For example, when writing the baseline configuration, identifying lines that you want to ignore can be very cumbersome.
September 25, 2019
SolarWinds Review
It is being used by one department for security auditing/logging.
- Remediate firmware vulnerabilities
- Change control
- Workflow approval
- User interface
September 09, 2019
Good Product
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager has been an extremely helpful tool, streamlining our operations department and maximizing efficiency. Cost is a bit high, but helpful in managing medium to large size networks.
- Backups
- Bulk Changes
- Cost
- Could be more flexible
September 06, 2019
GUI >> CLI
We use it as an audit tool to ensure that all configurations are standardized across all identical Cisco devices (switches, routers). It can easily generate a report of which devices aren't compliant and how. Given that we have over 1000 Cisco devices across our enterprise, this makes it a hugely valuable tool for us.
- Replaces CLI with a GUI interface.
- Manage, compare, and configure multiple devices at the same time.
- Audit many devices across the enterprise and generate reports on configuration inconsistencies.
- It would help if NCM could analyze and make recommendations about ways to improve Cisco configs (routing protocols, etc.)
- NCM could also potentially recommend more architectural changes to LANs and/or WANs on the network.
- That's it!
August 31, 2019
SolarWinds does an amazing job automating and and configuring our disparate technology!
We use it to manage a wide range of infrastructure services, from routers, firewalls, and UPSs to Windows, Linux and virtual server hosting hardware. Also, SAN networks and devices.
- Monitoring health levels of disparate technology.
- Configuring a wide array of equipment.
- Providing default and customized views of the status of all of your systems.
- Cost-effective and very fairly priced.
- Could provide even easier customization of reports and user interfaces.
- Continue to advance in rolling out updates to devices including APIs to allow the use of Ansible and other standard automation capabilities.
- Continue to widen the number of devices supported.
July 30, 2019
Must have NCM for backing up your various platforms
We use NCM for backing our 100+ customer routers and some other Linux appliance's settings. Very useful when trying to recover or checking the settings before making any changes.
- Can support different platforms.
- Linux appliances also support it.
- Very robust.
- Some user interfaces need to be improved.
- Web GUI sometimes is slow.
June 11, 2019
SolarWinds NCM practically pays for itself!
This is used by IT to monitor all network endpoints and alert on any outages. It is currently used by a staff of approximately 18 users in conjunction with SAM to monitor applications by our Infrastructure team. We are looking to bring IPAM into the mix in the next six months.
- Continuous uptime monitoring.
- Configuration of switches and routers automatically.
- Maintains consistency across the board.
- I actually don't have any suggestions at this time. It has served its purpose well for us.