SolarWinds for K-12
Updated August 27, 2019
SolarWinds for K-12
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)
We are a K-12 school district that has 11 schools and 2 administrative buildings. We have around 80 logical switch stacks and around 9000 physical ports in addition to almost 600 access points. We use NPM extensively to monitor all of our infrastructure equipment as well as our servers and IT appliances. NPM gives us a single pane of glass to quickly be alerted to any issues that our equipment may have.
Pros
- Single pane of glass for my entire infrastructure.
- Configurable text and email notifications if systems go down or have errors.
- Port Utilization with errors and discards.
Cons
- It would be nice if there was a way the interface details could give you a report of ports not in use based on the life of the switch, not the last reboot.
- NPM definitely reduces the amount of time necessary for my two man staff to monitor, and troubleshoot our network.
NPM is a much more robust platform
SolarWinds NPM Feature Ratings
SolarWinds NPM ROI Questions
Not Sure
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
This product was already purchased when I started in this job however, based off of my experience and the features and functionality I would absolutely purchase again if I had to. Network Performance Monitor is a feature rich tool set, and with the limited staffing we have frees us up for other tasks.
Feature Questions
- Monitor errors and discards on my switches
- Monitor overall hardware health of hardware
- Use netpath to monitor external services.
Using SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)
5 - Network, server and voice specialist use NPM
2 - We have 2 network admins that support NPM. It could easily be managed by one person.
- Monitor all voice devices
- Monitor additional external resources
Evaluating SolarWinds NPM and Competitors
I was not involved in the initial purchase, however after using NPM for some time I would absolutly select it again.
SolarWinds NPM Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
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 |
When migrating to new hardware I opened a support tickets and they were quick to respond with the best way to do it and best pratcies to use.
Using SolarWinds NPM
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Netpath
- Network top 10 is great
- Load Balancing monitor
- None that I find
- None
- None
Yes, but I don't use it
Comments
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