1. Home
  2. Network Performance Monitoring Tools
  3. SolarWinds NPM Reviews
  4. User Review of SolarWinds NPM
A better alternative to open-source
Updated December 07, 2018

A better alternative to open-source

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor

We use SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor to monitor the up/down status of our 50+ remote sites for real-time reporting of network outages. Also, we monitor bandwidth utilization for each site to make recommendations for increasing site bandwidth. This allows me to proactively resolve issues in a timely manner without having to sit around and wait for users to report problems.
  • Easy-to-customize dashboards.
  • Granular alerts and reporting of numerous issues.
  • Multi-vendor compatible.
  • Easier integration with Microsoft System Center.
  • A Windows widget for a quick glance of active alerts.
  • iPhone and Android apps.
  • Costly per-interface pricing model is a tough sell to leadership.
  • Alerts allow me to quickly respond to outages.
These open-source versions simply lacked the polish and out-of-the-box set-up that SolarWinds provides. Both alternatives required managing more than one server and required deeper Linux experience and third party add-ons that could introduce security vulnerabilities, a trade-off we experimented with but decided against in the end.
I recommend this because it is a solution that simply works right out of the box. If you are looking for an open-source solution, most require far too much tinkering under the hood and are nowhere near as polished as SolarWinds. I have looked at several open-source alternatives, but none come close to the polish that SolarWinds has.

SolarWinds NPM Feature Ratings

Network Performance Monitoring
6.0
Automated network device discovery
7
Network monitoring
9
Baseline threshold calculation
Not Rated
Alerts
Not Rated
Network capacity planning
7
Packet capture analysis
Not Rated
Network mapping
2
Customizable reports
5
Wireless infrastructure monitoring
Not Rated
Hardware health monitoring
Not Rated

Evaluating SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor and Competitors

Personally, I like open-source solutions but have found them to be a much longer deployment and include many more issues than an out-of-the box solution like Solarwinds was.

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor Support

I had a licensing issue when upgrading and received only very short responses. My issue was resolved quickly and only short responses were required in this instance, but I do prefer a more detailed explanation in situations where there are multiple ways of licensing.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
No escalation required
Support understands my problem
None
No - While I certainly have been in my fair share of situations that require immediate attention as I have experienced an extended outage, It is fairly rare and difficult for my budget to get approval for premium support.
I have only had to contact support once for assistance with a licensing issue during an upgrade to a new server.