Item: SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)
Rating: 9
Author: Cody Plassmeyer

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use NPM mainly in our IT department. We manage all of our servers and networking equipment with Solarwinds. NPM comes into play because it allows us to poll these devices periodically for information. It is a very helpful tool and has become essential to our business.

Pros and Cons

NPM is a great tool for alerting us when servers have a high CPU or memory utilization.
NPM monitors our firewalls to make sure they are not being over utilized.
NPM alerts us if any of our equipment happens to go down which is extremely beneficial.

When we had Cisco ASAs, NPM was able to gather information on those. We now have Cisco FTDs and wish we could do the same.

Return on Investment

Being able to get ahead of a major problem in your network allows you to save money.
Getting alerts when you are away from the office allows you to get things fixed sooner.
NPM has a feature called "memory forecast" which shows you how memory is progressing. This helps to either increase memory on a specific server or figure out what is eating the memory on that server.

Alternatives Considered

We have not used or evaluated any other products besides SolarWinds.

Key Insights

Do you think SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)'s feature set?

Yes

Did SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) again?

Yes

Support Rating

I have personally only had to contact SolarWinds supports less than a handful of times but each time I did contact them they were thorough in getting my problem solved in a timely manner.

Usability

It takes some time to get everything customized exactly to your liking but once you get to that point it is extremely easy to use.

Likelihood to Recommend

SolarWinds NPM is well suited for any network administrator. Having the ability to monitor all your equipment is a huge advantage especially if you happen to have any trouble within your network. You can have alerts emailed directly to you and create dashboards showing you all the information you may possibly want to see. It may take a little time getting everything correctly set up but once you get to that stage, life is much easier.

Monitoring at its finest

Overall Satisfaction with SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)