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Starting at $1,638 per year
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What is SolarWinds NPM?
SolarWinds NPM is a monitoring and performance management platform. It provides performance troubleshooting support, auto network discovery, customizable thresholds, and can be rapidly deployed.
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Popular Features
- Alerts (228)8.989%
- Hardware health monitoring (215)8.888%
- Network monitoring (231)8.787%
- Customizable reports (212)7.979%
Pricing
NPM
$1,638
On Premise
per year
Entry-level set up fee?
- Setup fee optional
For the latest information on pricing, visithttp://www.solarwinds.com/products/pric…
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Demos
Why I Recommend SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)
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- Competitors
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What is SolarWinds NPM?
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) delivers comprehensive network fault monitoring and performance management that scales and expands with a company's network monitoring needs. Users can collect and view availability, real-time and historical statistics from routers, switches, firewalls, servers, and any other SNMP-, ICMP-, or WMI-enabled devices directly from a web browser.
The vendor states that SolarWinds users can get a full NPM installation up and running the same day they download, and that implementation does not require a team of consultants. NPM provides visibility into the health of network devices and servers on the network, ensuring that users have needed real-time information to keep their network running at peak performance.
Network Performance Monitor helps IT Pros:
- Detect, diagnose, and resolve network performance issues and avoid downtime
- Respond to multiple condition checks, correlated events, and device dependencies
- Automatically calculate capacity exhaustion dates using customizable thresholds based on peak and average usage
- Streamline network troubleshooting with a Web interface
- View paths to critical business services hop-by-hop, even into the cloud, with the NetPath™ feature
- Get deeper visibility into complex network devices with Network Insight™ features for Cisco ASA firewalls, Cisco Nexus switches, and F5 BIG-IP load balancers
SolarWinds NPM Features
Network Performance Monitoring Features
- Supported: Automated network device discovery
- Supported: Network monitoring
- Supported: Baseline threshold calculation
- Supported: Alerts
- Supported: Network capacity planning
- Supported: Packet capture analysis
- Supported: Network mapping
- Supported: Customizable reports
- Supported: Wireless infrastructure monitoring
- Supported: Hardware health monitoring
Additional Features
- Supported: Seamless conversion upgrade to AIOps-powered Hybrid Cloud Observability
- Supported: Multi-vendor device support for any router, switch, firewall, VPN concentrator, wireless access point and other devices that support standard protocols
- Supported: Intelligent alerts for correlated events, sustained conditions, and complex combinations of device states
- Supported: Insight on hardware health by monitoring, alerting, and reporting on the state of key device sensors
- Supported: NetPath for hop-by-hop monitoring of critical business services, on-premises or into the cloud
- Supported: Network Insight for Cisco Nexus switches, F5 BIG-IP load balancers, Cisco ASA firewalls
SolarWinds NPM Screenshots
SolarWinds NPM Video
Network Performance Monitor overview
SolarWinds NPM Integrations
- SolarWinds Hybrid Cloud Observability
- SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor
- SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA)
- SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
- SolarWinds Virtualization Manager (VMAN)
- SolarWinds Storage Resource Monitor (SRM)
- SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)
- SolarWinds Web Performance Monitor (WPM)
SolarWinds NPM Competitors
- LogicMonitor
- OpenText Network Node Manager i (NNMi)
- Broadcom DX Unified Infrastructure Management
- Cisco Prime LAN Management (discontinued)
- ManageEngine OpManager
- Nagios Core
- Progress WhatsUp Gold
- DX Infrastructure Manager (formerly CA Unified Infrastructure Management)
- Paessler PRTG
SolarWinds NPM Technical Details
| Deployment Types | On-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Windows, Windows® Server 2016; SQL Server 2016 SQL Server 2016 SP1 SQL Server 2017 (including installations on Linux) |
| Mobile Application | No |
SolarWinds NPM Downloadables
Frequently Asked Questions
SolarWinds NPM is a monitoring and performance management platform. It provides performance troubleshooting support, auto network discovery, customizable thresholds, and can be rapidly deployed.
LogicMonitor, OpenText Network Node Manager i (NNMi), and Broadcom DX Unified Infrastructure Management are common alternatives for SolarWinds NPM.
Reviewers rate Alerts highest, with a score of 8.9.
The most common users of SolarWinds NPM are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
Comparisons
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(600)
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!
- Business Problems Solved
- Recommendations
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Another important use case for this product is for educational purposes. Teachers and students alike have found value in using this product to enhance their learning experience. With its interactive features such as animations, videos, and quizzes, it enables educators to create engaging lessons that capture students' attention and facilitate better understanding of complex concepts. Users appreciate the product's collaborative capabilities, allowing for seamless group projects and real-time feedback.
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Lastly, users have praised the product's ability to simplify personal projects such as photo albums or event invitations. The variety of customization options allows users to personalize their creations and add their own touch. Whether it's creating personalized greeting cards or designing stunning wedding invitations, this product has been a reliable choice for users seeking high-quality results without the need for extensive design knowledge.
Overall, this product has proven to be versatile and adaptable in various contexts, making it an indispensable tool for professionals, educators, businesses, and individuals alike. Its user-friendly interface combined with its extensive features and customization options allow users to unleash their creativity and achieve impressive results in a wide range of use cases.
Users recommend considering the whole stack of Network Modules on the SolarWinds platform instead of NPM as a standalone product. They believe the other modules are valuable additions for monitoring, managing, and analyzing the network. SolarWinds NPM is considered the best network performance monitoring solution on the market. Users suggest using it for network monitoring and exploring other modules for specific infrastructure monitoring. While NPM is a good tool for network monitoring, users advise looking into alternative options for advanced monitoring needs. Some users suggest improving the navigation to make it more fluid and user-friendly. Overall, users recommend SolarWinds NPM for managing and monitoring network infrastructures due to its reliability and cost-effectiveness. They also recommend trying the live action feature and Meraki for enhanced network analytics. Users suggest considering other products with better UI and capabilities. SolarWinds NPM is worth the price if affordable, especially with sponsorship. Working with third-party services or SolarWinds to properly set up the tool is recommended. Using multiple tools in conjunction with NPM provides more visibility. Users recommend signing up for Thwack and utilizing their resources for assistance with SolarWinds products. Trying the demo first before purchasing is advisable. NPM is considered a core module in every company that chooses SolarWinds as their monitoring tool. It is important to ensure that the server can handle the software. Experienced staff maximizes the benefits of the platform. Users suggest downloading a trial copy of NPM to test it out. NPM outperforms other tools according to user opinions. More theme options and additional ways to export data are requested. Other modules from SolarWinds that work well with NPM, such as Server & Application Manager, should be explored. Support team and Thwack community are highly praised by users. Users should not be overwhelmed by features and take advantage of free trial resources. SolarWinds is recommended for enterprise-level monitoring, but Loop1 consulting is advised for complex environments. Initial setup can be time-consuming. The 30-day evaluation of the full product is excellent. Becoming a Thwack member provides access to extensive resources and support. SolarWinds may have a higher cost but is considered worth it. Proper provisioning of hardware, software, and infrastructure is crucial before deploying SolarWinds. Users recommend setting up the trial version first and getting familiar with the product. SolarWinds NPM receives high recommendations from users and is praised for its great dashboards.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-3 of 3)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
March 21, 2023
NPM is a great tool for your networking team!
We choose to use SolarWinds because the legacy Monitor tool was not cover some areas/alerts/vendors. Also, we were looking for a tool able to identify and act in some alerts. We are using NPM to monitor the infrastructure, to provide some stats that can help us to identify possible issues in the future, and to automatize some regular actions.
- Monitor Cisco devices in general
- Monitor Azure Gateways
- Provide different kind of reports
- Provide different kind of alerts
- Pollers for Aruba Devices
- The SolarWinds support team is not familiar with non-Cisco vendors, so it's hard to get some support from them.
- Bugs sometimes is happening
- Sometimes the Dashboard delays to show the current status of Nodes/Services
- Netpath services
- Wireless stats & reports
- Orion Maps
- Orion Dashboards
- Orion Network Overview
95%
9.5
- Able to predict the future with the Forecast reports.
- with NPM I can monitor the WAN circuits then decide if it needs a upgrade or not.
- Able to provide quick responses for alerts, reducing the MTTR for some services
I didn't test other products
20
Network Operation Team, Help desk Level 1 & 2 and the Management Level (reports only)
1
Knowledge about the current network, Basic Network skills, and familiar with SolarWinds features and Dashboard.
- API Poller support
- Netpatch services
- Orion Maps
- Orion Dashboards
- Able to forecast upgrades & downgrades
- Able to prevent issues
- Able to be proactive about issues
- To Determine potential outside network issues (using Netpath services)
- To share the Orion Maps with Customers/Partners
Yes
Nagios - We are replacing Nagios with Solarwinds in order to have more Features provided by Solarwinds, better support, and better/faster learning for the engineers.
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
- Prior Experience with the Product
The NPM has fantastic features like Netpath that are helping us to get issues and monitor better our network.
Probably I will increase my scores as I can see the support team is now able to understand and give the right support for non-Cisco devices. So far so good for all other tools/features.
- Implemented in-house
No
Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled
The change management understands that Solarwinds in most cases is just monitoring the environment and most of the actions made are included previously in a CAB discussion.
- Orion Alerts (sometimes required more skills to build it up)
- Vendors not supported
- MIB SNMP not working for some systems/vendors
- Online Training
Yes, we followed the best practices provided during the SolarWinds training.
No - we have not done any customization to the interface
No - we have not done any custom code
NA.
Not yet. Currently, we just have the Network environment under Solarwinds. No reason to have this support for this moment.
Yes
Yes, I have flagged an issue with Orion NOC. It was fixed fast by the support team.
When a opened a ticket regarding NPM, they could sort the issue and in the final suggested running a Performance Tool to get the Health of my SolarWinds installation. Great Suggestion :)
- Netpath services
- Orion Dashboards
- Network Overview
- Orion Maps
- Orion Reports (sometimes requires more skills to build it up)
- Orion Alerts (sometimes requires more skills to build it up)
- Jira
- Splunk
- Azure
The documentation on SolarWinds is good but sometimes you need to invoke support to help you.
- Jira
- Nagios
For Jira, 100% sure because Solarwinds & Jira have an integration module available. Not sure about Nagios as they are SolarWinds concurrent.
- File import/export
- API (e.g. SOAP or REST)
Most of the integration as paid. Maybe a good approach leaves available all integrations as it can encourage people to buy and integrate their products with Solarwinds.
SLA for cases;
Discounts to acquire additional modules.
Discounts to acquire additional modules.
NA
Yes
Yes, all upgrades made were smooth and causing minimal down time to the users
- Following the current Application version
- Cover bugs & vulnerabilities
- Under a code that the support will probably suggest being
- Fix bugs
- Fix Vulnerabilities
- Make the application faster
- Provide more facilities & tools
No
No
We use the Orion Summary page for all senior admins - we get alerts if things are coming down, if servers are running low on disk space, if memory is over utilized. Many different uses. I like the additions of NetPath services. I have also used reports and the network Atlas to create visual representations for our active links. Diving into a node is helpful to establish response time issues, trends and even capacity forecasts. I use this on servers, SANs, switches, Wireless controllers, and alert monitoring services.
- NetPath services are a godsend when you are trying to explain to ISPs, etc. about where traffic is congested or stopping. Sometimes seeing is believing for them.
- The other BIG deal is anticipating disk capacity - when volumes get to full, servers crash. With NPM, we can and create set thresholds for warning us before we run into issues, and then we can add storage, memory, and CPU, (especially on our Virtual environment.)
- Alerts are great - instead of hearing from our users that a server is offline, we are aware of it right away.
- We also like the alerts that le us know when there are upgrades available.
- It would be nice to be able to set up SNMP3 for some of our systems in an easier fashion. But it is not a show stopper.
- Sometimes the support refers us to the Knowledge base and Thwack. Not a huge deal, but I only end up putting in a ticket when I have spent a great deal of time searching for a solution.
- Email alerts sometimes go wonky after an upgrade.
76%
7.6
- Once we started using it, it is hard to envision being without it! It is nice to show uptime percentages and the like to the folks who control the purse strings.
- SolarWinds NPM is not the only SolarWinds product we use, but it was instrumental in making the decision to purchase additional SolarWinds products.
- We used SolarWinds to build reports, which have lead us to replacing T1 circuits with faster dedicated wireless and fiber optic connections as well. I think our IT group is respected because we tend to be aware of the issues impacting our users on a deeper level than we would have without NPM.
We tried Dell OMNM manager suite but it was difficult to clear alerts, to setup, etc. It did more -- allowed us to back up and recover switch configurations etc. -- but it didn't present a very user friendly interface and it was impossible to manage correctly. We spent a lot on the solution because we got it with our new switching equipment and were told it was the best way to manage an monitor our switches. It turned out that we continued to rely on SolarWinds NPM after repeated attempts to configure and make OMNM usable.
No
The entire team uses NPM - DAILY! If I am at lunch, I can count on the fact that someone else will get alerts as well. I like this product and for the most part there are few issues. The only thing I am having trouble with is some of the SMS alerts. The email alerts are great but the visual dashboard (Summary page) is always up on its own monitor.
- Early down time notification for ALL IT staff via email alerts
- Alerts on issues with disks, fans, and various hardware.
- Uptime reporting
12
IT Tech support. We use this extensively - those of us who use the product to troubleshoot issues get notifications and the help desk people use it to inform users that we are aware of a situation - even when the end user calls support. It makes the help desk people sound like the professionals they are. Getting a call and saying "yes, we are aware that your switch is down. We have someone working on it." or "the link to the internet is offline, we have contacted the ISP and are working with them on a resolution" sounds so much better than "yes, we are down and are working on it."
2
We are systems administrators with years of experience. The reason we have 2 of us is for redundancy. We ensure someone is available when the other may be out of office. We also have a dedicated DBA to handle the backend database on Microsoft QL server. The skills to manage NPM are not extensive, a basic knowledge of SNMP, IP networking, SMTP setup and network topology are relevant.
- Netpath has been very helpful - we have a complex setup for ISP and the ability to use this has helped a great deal.
- Reporting on uptime. We didn't have a metric to show the leadership how our uptime percentage played out. We were able to create a monthly uptime report for our SLA.
- The ability for our help desk to be proactive about issues when senior technicians are out in the field.
- If they can get NPM to use SMS easily, we can get text alerts on weekends etc.
- Volumes getting to close to capacity. This alert is a bit difficult to use. It is easy if it boils down to a percentage but if you have disks/volumes that are very large, the percentage can skew you results dramatically - so for now it is cumbersome to get granular alerting.
- High traffic performance issues that need to be tracked in order to ascertain quality of service.
We looked at Manage engine. We selected SolarWinds due to the price difference. We ran the product in demo for about a week. We needed some hand holding during the setup and we created some installation cheat sheets to assist. We used SNMP and polling and we manually added devices because we were not buying a license for every workstation on our network - only the things we wanted monitored. It was nice to be able to do this and save some money.
- Implemented in-house
Yes
1) We gathered the monitored items first - Servers, switches, routers, SANs, door hardware, wireless controllers, firewalls, phone equipment and UPS equipment.
2) we created a visual map of our network for the atlas that displayed the buildings/sited for our network.
3) we created a database on Microsoft SQL server to house the data, created a virtual machine to house the software, created an SMTP receiver on our mail server to allow us to get alerts via email.
4) we installed the product and began the setup for all of these preparations
5) we added test nodes to see alerts for the first time and then decided on what to monitor within the nodes.
6) we tested the email alerts, created down times on dummy servers, test switches and our backup firewalls.
2) we created a visual map of our network for the atlas that displayed the buildings/sited for our network.
3) we created a database on Microsoft SQL server to house the data, created a virtual machine to house the software, created an SMTP receiver on our mail server to allow us to get alerts via email.
4) we installed the product and began the setup for all of these preparations
5) we added test nodes to see alerts for the first time and then decided on what to monitor within the nodes.
6) we tested the email alerts, created down times on dummy servers, test switches and our backup firewalls.
Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled
We were starting from ground zero and it was minimal because of the extensive pre-planning on this project. We had the IP addresses/FQDN's of the equipment we wanted to monitor already in place. We created all of the requirements prior to launch so it was a very successful transition for us. Using Virtual machines to test was an awesome way to ensure things were setup properly in a minimal amount of time.
- Getting SNMP setup on all of the servers was time consuming. We could not get SNMPv3 to work at all.
- Disk thresholds were set for 15% in the beginning. However, on large multi terrabyte volumes this was not feasible - we ended up having to manually set these up for server OS volumes and start with critical servers first and then work through the rest.
- Again - I keep coming back to an issue we have never been able to resolve SMS notifications.
- no training
- Adding nodes
- Using the dashboard
- NetPath is easy to use and read
- I am having difficulty getting the SMS functionality working with Exchange 2016 without using a paid product like NotePage.
- Figuring out which additional things to monitor on the servers to get a more complete assessment.
- SMS notifications are difficult to setup without using another vendor to accomplish it.
Yes, but I don't use it
August 27, 2019
Great Product - Would buy it again and again.
We use SolarWinds Network Performance Manager (NPM) to manage our control system for our public safety radio system and call recording. The NPM allows me to instantly capture the system health at a glance, and be notified in or out of the office of any current or impending issues.
- System monitoring
- System inventory
- Notification
- Better performance of screen refreshes for network maps
60%
6.0
- By being able to virtualize the NPM server we were able to utilize existing hardware
- We have been able to capture data showing future imminent failure and take action.
SolarWinds has more features and is easier to set up/install
Yes
Nagios
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
- Third-party Reviews
The product features and useability we both very important in determining purchase. This product has both amazing features and an easy intuitive interface .
- Server uptime
- IP Endpoint uptime
- Hardware performance
- Notifications
4
Information technology, and administrative
2
We utilize the techs
- Checking remote network gateways for our provincial radio system
- Checking health and uptime of remote radio controllers for provincial radio system
- Monitoring other agencies in our dispatch radius
Confirm service agreements
- Third-party professional services
Westcan ACS
No
Change management was minimal
- Proper server OS versioning
- Online training
- Self-taught
Yes but to get the full benefit would recommend training
None at this time
Some - we have done small customizations to the interface
A slight learning curve
No - we have not done any custom code
None at this time
No
Not required at this point
No
Back when I was trying to get a server communicating with the reporting, support went out of their way to assist.
- New Device scans
- Network maps
- Node edits
- Changing contact and alert settings
- Upgrades
- Nice recording solutions
- Avtec consoles
- Hexagon CAD
- Motorola P35 radio
yes
- Single Signon
Nothing at this stage
Installation, configuration, testing and as-build ducumentaion
None
Yes
Yes, but the new release did slow the system down significantly
- Haven’t used it yet
- Redundant server configuration for high availability
No
No