SolarWinds gets the job done faster and cheaper
December 18, 2015

SolarWinds gets the job done faster and cheaper

Nicos Christofi | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor

It's the main screen in the ops center; it's used for netflow and alarms.
  • Netflow
  • Color indication of up/down
  • Receiver and analyzer and sender of e-mail alarms of syslog messages
  • Network port error indication
  • Circuit utilization and alarms
  • Easy management of nodes
  • Maps
  • Speed and use of storage space
  • Need to allocate receivers for each of our large data centers
  • Easier to train OPS CENTER personnel
  • Increased independence of OPS CENTER personnel
  • Much better ROI than other network monitors like Openview
  • Easier to configure in general
HP Open View is too costly and too hard to configure
Suited for both ping and snmp, but less suited for snmp v3

SolarWinds NPM Feature Ratings

Automated network device discovery
7
Network monitoring
10
Baseline threshold calculation
8
Alerts
9
Network capacity planning
6
Packet capture analysis
7
Network mapping
6
Customizable reports
5
Wireless infrastructure monitoring
4
Hardware health monitoring
8

Using SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor

20 - network operations and network enginneering
6 - self learned or Solarwinds support
  • netflow analysis
  • fault+alarms
  • graphic up/down
  • netflow analysis and detection of DDOS
  • ps center self support
  • alarms for interface 90%+
  • netflow guard of interface on WAN
  • alarms on syslog from wifi controllers
  • alarms from routers on Internet side(DMZ)

Evaluating SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor and Competitors

  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Prior Experience with the Product
  • Vendor Reputation
price and ease of use
no changes I know the product works

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor Implementation

better get beefy hardware and storage/memory
Change management was a big part of the implementation and was well-handled - all teams informed in weekly meetings CAB
  • not enough storage had to upgrade
  • went from phys servers to VM
  • upgraded the link from 1gig to 10

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor Support

get quick responses
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
Immediate help available
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
No - dont need it
had issue with the v-2 or v-3 of SNMP and they described the solution

Using SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor

good for both ops center and engineers
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Well integrated
Feel confident using
Requires technical support
Lots to learn
  • alarms
  • netflow
  • color indication of up/down
  • ipam
  • we dont use for hardware cpu fan its slow
  • slow to alert sometimes