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SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

Overview

What is SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor?

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers application and server monitoring capabilities. SAM allows for self-service for easy setup, 1200+ monitoring templates, and customization options, as well as integrate with other SolarWinds products.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor is a versatile tool that has been widely used across various industries and departments for …
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True Insight

10 out of 10
January 27, 2022
Incentivized
I use SolarWinds Server Application Monitor to monitor my infrastructure as well as applications within that environment. It provides a …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 12 features
  • Server availability and performance monitoring (269)
    9.8
    98%
  • Application monitoring (266)
    9.0
    90%
  • Threshold alerts (271)
    9.0
    90%
  • Out-of-the box templates to monitor applications (256)
    7.9
    79%
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Pricing

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What is SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor?

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers application and server monitoring capabilities. SAM allows for self-service for easy setup, 1200+ monitoring templates, and customization options, as well as integrate with other SolarWinds products.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttp://www.solarwinds.com/products/pric…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Alternatives Pricing

What is Azure Monitor?

Microsoft's Azure Monitor is designed to analyze and optimize the performance of web applications and infrastructure, including virtual machines (VMs), Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Storage, and databases. Monitor Linux and Windows VMs and their health and dependencies—all on a single map.

What is SolarWinds Pingdom?

SolarWinds Pingdom is a website uptime monitoring and alert tool, with additional reporting and Real User Monitoring capabilities. Pingdom is part of SolarWinds’s DevOps package, enabling full-stack monitoring as a service.

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Features

Application Performance Management

Application performance management software monitors software to ensure performance and availability

8.7
Avg 7.6
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Product Details

What is SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor?

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers application and server monitoring capabilities for IT pros enabling them to diagnose and troubleshoot issues faster. The vendor’s value proposition is that this solution prevents slow applications and downtime from impacting end-users and business services. Users can use this tool to pinpoint the root cause of application issues across various layers of the IT stack.

The vendor says SolarWinds SAM is affordable, easy to deploy, use and customize. Users can automatically discover their systems environment and start monitoring in about an hour. No professional services or consultation needed.

SAM is built on SolarWinds Orion® platform enabling native integration with Network Performance Monitor and other IT management software from SolarWinds.

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Features

  • Supported: Single Web interface to monitor multi-vendor applications and server infrastructure.
  • Supported: Out-of-the-box monitoring templates for 200+ enterprise applications.
  • Supported: Easily extend monitoring to virtually any custom or home-grown applications.
  • Supported: Gain contextual visibility of relationships and dependencies between applications and physical and virtual servers.
  • Supported: Monitor server hardware health, perform capacity forecasting, and manage asset inventory. Remediate server issues remotely with built-in management actions.
  • Supported: Monitor VMware and Hyper-V environments to identify problems impacting application performance.
  • Supported: Centrally manage IT asset inventory and keep track of server hardware and software information.
  • Supported: Leverage the wealth of built-in alerts and reports, and easily customize them as needed.
  • Supported: SAM is an agentless monitoring software. Optional agent installation extends monitoring to the cloud.

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Screenshots

Screenshot of Multi-vendor application performance monitoringScreenshot of Multi-vendor server monitoringScreenshot of Application dependency mapping with AppStackâ„¢ dashboardScreenshot of Microsoft Exchange performance monitoring with AppInsightâ„¢ templateScreenshot of Microsoft IIS performance monitoring with AppInsightâ„¢ templateScreenshot of Server hardware health monitoringScreenshot of Built-in virtualization monitoring for VMware and Hyper-V environmentsScreenshot of Easily extend monitoring to any custom or home-grown application

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Videos

An introduction to and a brief overview of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor
In this video, the TrustRadius team is going to take a look at Solarwinds Server and Application Monitor, a powerful tool that can help you monitor your systems and identify issues early. We'll explore the overview, user sentiment, pricing, top features, and use-case, and help...
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Watch SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Training Videos

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Competitors

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows
Mobile ApplicationNo
Supported LanguagesEnglish

Frequently Asked Questions

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers application and server monitoring capabilities. SAM allows for self-service for easy setup, 1200+ monitoring templates, and customization options, as well as integrate with other SolarWinds products.

Progress WhatsUp Gold, Nagios Core, and Tivoli Monitoring (legacy) are common alternatives for SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor.

Reviewers rate Server availability and performance monitoring highest, with a score of 9.8.

The most common users of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(650)

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!

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor is a versatile tool that has been widely used across various industries and departments for monitoring and managing servers, applications, and network infrastructure. Users rely on the software to ensure that critical systems are up and running smoothly. With its ability to monitor servers, applications, and network nodes, customers appreciate the comprehensive insights it provides into their IT environments.

One of the key use cases of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor is its role in proactive monitoring and alerting. Users have praised the software's capability to detect issues such as CPU utilization, memory usage, response time, and low disk space. By setting up corresponding alerts, users can address potential problems before they impact end-users. This proactive approach helps prevent system failures and ensures optimal performance.

Another important use case of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor is its ability to provide detailed insights into server metrics and application performance. Users can monitor various elements such as CPU, memory, and disk usage on servers, as well as track the health of applications like Exchange, SQL, IIS, and SharePoint. The software's integration with other products in the SolarWinds Orion family enhances network management capabilities, allowing for a unified view of segmented networks.

Additionally, SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor is valued for its flexibility in monitoring different types of systems and services. It supports Windows, Linux, Unix, and AIX servers both on-premises and in the cloud. Users have leveraged the software to monitor services, processes, URLs, IP addresses, MAC addresses, SMTP devices like networked cameras, and even Linux services such as IPTables. This broad range of monitoring capabilities makes it a valuable tool for organizations with diverse IT infrastructures.

Overall, SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor has proven to be instrumental in maintaining system stability by providing real-time alerts for potential issues and facilitating efficient troubleshooting. Its ease of use and customization options allow different departments and administrators to tailor monitoring and alerts to their specific needs. The software's comprehensive insights, proactive monitoring, and wide range of supported systems make it a valuable asset for organizations looking to ensure optimal performance and availability of their IT infrastructure.

Customizable Dashboard: Users appreciate the fully customizable dashboard in SolarWinds SAM, which allows them to tailor it to their specific requirements. This feature has been mentioned by several reviewers and enables users to easily access the information they need for effective monitoring.

Proactive Alerting: Reviewers have praised SAM's proactive alerting capabilities, with alerts being triggered for offline servers, low disk space, rebooted servers, and critical network device outages. This feature has been highly valued by users as it helps them stay on top of potential issues and address them promptly.

Reporting Capabilities: SAM's reporting capabilities have received positive feedback from users who find the detailed reports provided by the software helpful for meeting regulatory requirements and ensuring system stability and performance. The granularity in alerts and reporting has been mentioned by multiple reviewers as a valuable feature of SAM.

Confusing User Interface: Users have expressed frustration with the user interface of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor, stating that it is confusing and difficult to navigate. Some users feel that there is a steep learning curve and find it overwhelming, especially for first-time users.

Lack of Comprehensive Documentation: Several users have criticized the documentation provided for SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor, stating that it is spotty and lacking in examples. They believe that more comprehensive and detailed documentation would greatly aid in understanding and troubleshooting the software.

Poor Customer Support: There have been complaints about the customer support provided by SolarWinds. Multiple users have reported that customer support has worsened over time, causing frustration due to delays in reaching the correct support team and resolving issues in a timely manner.

Users have recommended several key actions for users considering SolarWinds based on their experiences. These include:

  • Recommending utilizing the software for internal use, specifically for monitoring servers and applications.
  • Suggesting taking advantage of the free trial to test the software before making a purchase decision.
  • Advising researching and planning before implementation to ensure the software is suitable for one's needs.
  • Encouraging careful design of the environment, especially when using the software in different locations.
  • Recommending purchasing a license that matches the number of components needed for monitoring.
  • Urging cautiousness when it comes to support and potential glitches with the software.
  • Suggesting working with a detail-oriented engineer for proper setup and configuration.
  • Promoting interaction with the user community site to learn from others' experiences and share knowledge.
  • Emphasizing the need to understand the licensing model before signing up and selecting appropriate licensing based on the number of nodes to be monitored.
  • Suggesting exploring other SolarWinds offerings and using them in conjunction with this software.

While users find SolarWinds to be a valuable tool, they also mention that it may not be suitable for beginners due to its learning curve. Overall, it is recommended to carefully consider setup, pricing, and requirements before implementing SolarWinds.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(26-50 of 236)
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Nikhil Kumar Sharma | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Solarwinds Server and Application monitor is my first choice of tools preferred for server and application infrastructure monitoring because of the following reasons -
1. Single product to offer on-prem, hosted, cloud monitoring
2. Single Product to offer Server, Database and Application monitoring.
3. Flexible in monitoring methods such as - SNMP, WMI, Agent, API etc
4. Flexible in Distributed architecture across multiple geos.
5. Easy integration with other platforms such as Service Now, Splunk etc
6. Less cost comparatively.

Mike Narumiya | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
When balancing cost, previous staff experience with other products, and the ease of implementation and use yielding immediate value made SolarWinds a great choice. Cost and ease of implementation were very important. Module purchasing with other useful options on the menu was great and enticing as well. Reputation for SolarWinds is solid and useful for marketing to executive staff.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Splunk requires an agent to run and collect data. It also requires a lot more through servers and cost. We currently have Splunk, however when it comes down to quick and low impact monitoring we use SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor. Monitoring through WMI or SNMP using credentials allows for a lower impact than Splunk, which requires an agent.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We've been happy with SolarWinds and have been using it for about 10 years. We have not needed to look at other products to replace it. We use pingdom to get similar performance monitoring on our websites from an external source. pingdom is also a SolarWinds product. Both products have served us well with accurate information.
December 11, 2020

Overall Satisfaction

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Compared to New Relic, SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor definitely is a better option and a better tool to use due to it is more user friendly despite the poor UI of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor. Because of the above reason, my company is switching from New Relic to SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor.
Devbrath Pant | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We selected SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor over AppDynamics because SolarWinds product suited our needs better. We needed better infrastructure monitoring and internal application monitoring brought from other vendors. If we wanted to monitor an application that was being developed by our company and we needed to track every transaction of it then we would have gone for AppDynamics, but SolarWinds was a better fit for our use case.


Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The nature of monitoring applications is to alert, offer ways to keep a production environment up and running, and limit/reduce interruptions. We have Zabbix and Nagios Network Analyzer in place, which help uptime and other critical infrastructure stay in operation. Metrics like CPU usage, network congestion, and what applications are using up resources certainly are key to any environment. SolarWinds Server & Application Manager takes this to a different level and sees, in much greater detail and with endless granularity, layers of how to improve operations of servers and applications.
November 08, 2020

Great Product

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor stacks up against the alternatives very well. The reason we chose to go with SolarWinds is its offering of, and integration with, additional Orion Suite tools such as Network Performance Monitor and NetFlow Traffic Analyzer to round out our network monitoring.
Mandy Ferguson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
All monitoring was done manually prior to SolarWinds and in my mind, there really is no comparison. Having internally built databases created a dependency on our internal teams to support, change, alter the tool any time we needed something different. SolarWinds already had built in capabilities and took the pressure off our internal teams to meet our needs.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Each monitoring solution has its strong and weak points. For example SolarWinds has a strong Network orientation and is amazing for network monitoring for switches, routers, firewalls, F5, etc. Nagios on the other hand is stronger in open source monitoring and is better in that aspect for example, Linux, Ceph KVM, etc.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Compared with other application monitoring stacks, Solarwinds SAM is easy to use, deploy, and configure within a few clicks of a mouse.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Previously we have evaluated Nagios which at the time was quite limited in the presentation layer and was quite labor-intensive to configure. With SolarWinds, we benefit from the flexibility and ease of implementation as well as the slick user interface and web-based wizards to cater to the configuration and addition of new assets into the product.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Simplifying our environment from multiple tools to a single monitoring tool has greatly reduced the amount of time we spend configuring our monitors. SCOM is decent at monitoring Microsoft applications but doesn't do a good job with network equipment, and Nagious can be very complicated especially if you're not in the interface every day.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
While SolarWinds does not offer an appliance-based setup the usability offered from running through a VM is miles ahead of the competitors. Being able to easily migrate from something like windows HyperVisor to VMWare without any setbacks or serious network configuration leads me to believe that SolarWinds is the be all, end all answer for us when it comes to monitoring software.
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