A wonderful product for config management and recovery
Updated September 13, 2019

A wonderful product for config management and recovery

Aaron Coody | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

We use it to back up our Cisco Networking configs and recover or do mass changes when needed. I can keep multiple config copies in case I need to revert back to a previous version or reference changes for troubleshooting purposes. This has cut my recover and troubleshooting times in half.

Pros

  • Backup Cisco configs
  • Change highlights
  • Recovery of configs

Cons

  • I like it just the way it is.
  • It's greatly reduced our downtime.
I tried to setup a rancid server early on but I found it cumbersome to keep up to date and configured for all our networking products. When I found NCM from SolarWinds I was ecstatic to download and try. When we got the demo version, we quickly purchased shortly after.
Duo Security, BeyondTrust Remote Support (formerly Bomgar), Microsoft Teams
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager helps me quickly recover from a Cisco hardware failure. I really like how easy it is to recover the configs and also chose the most appropriate version. I can store a simple baseline in case I need to give a base config to a vendor or I can have the whole config available in a matter of seconds.

Using SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

1 - so far i'm the only one that uses NCM in our environment. I handle everything dealing with the infrastructure. I'm in charge of making sure our configs are up to date, backed up, and easily accessible so when a failure occurs we can recover quickly. I also handle the virtual environment.
1 - I'm a jack of all trades master of none. Network config manager is really a product that i like to call a "Ronco" product. you set it and forget it to some extent. i have reports that i get daily to ensure that my configs are backup and saved. I also have a command that runs weekly to write the configs on the networking equipment incase i forget when i'm making changes.
  • config backups
  • config recovery
  • config change log
  • NA
  • NA
  • NA
  • push bulk config
  • backup non cisco configs
I simply love this product for what it does. it backups our configs and stores them so i don't have to worry about if we have current configs. It allows me to recover from a cisco failure in a matter of minutes rather than hours. I only have to copy and paste instead of recreate. so the maximum downtime we have is the time it takes to get the physical hardware replaced.

Evaluating SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager and Competitors

  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Vendor Reputation
we've been using solarwinds Network performance monitor for a while and wanted something with that would have a smooth transition to back up our configs. when we learned that solarwinds had network config manager it was a no brainer for us and we jumped on the opportunity to purchase it with our existing package.
i wouldn't change anything. i fell in love with network configuration manager from the word go. it was easy to setup and use and provided us with a lot of valuable configs and different versions of configs to compare and see where we may have differed from site to site. it was a great experience.

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Implementation

it was a fairly easy implementation and everything was pretty straightforward. only challenge we had was getting all the snmp communities updated on the networking equipment.
  • Implemented in-house
  • not all snmp communities were the same

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Support

everytime i have to call into solarwinds for support that are very knowledgeable and well versed in their products. i have never had an issue with a support engineer not knowing or at least not knowing how to find the information to fix my problem. i can't be happier with their support.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
i don't have a specific time where they went above and beyond, but i will toot their horn and say they always strive to give the best support that they can to their customers. i think that mentality will always make them a cut above other vendors that have similar products.

Using SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

overall usability is easy and simple. you use the discovery element and if all your snmp communities are setup right in your equipment network config manager will have no problems downloading your configs. if you decide to you don't need them for a particular device you simply tell it not to backup using ncm. it's that easy.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • setup
  • use
  • exporting configs
  • na
  • na
  • na

Comments

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