Item: SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor
Rating: 9
Author: Ryhlen Schoeberl

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor to monitor all of our servers and the applications they run. I will let us know if there is an error with any application we have running and we can set up alerts to notify us that there is an issue via email and MMS message with the details we set up in the alert.

Pros and Cons

It has some out of the box commonly used application monitors for Windows
It has some out of the box commonly used application monitors for Linux
You can set up custom application monitors for Windows systems
You can set up custom application monitors for Linux systems

I wish there was more out of the box Linux application monitors
I wish it could communicate with TR-069 for monitoring our LTE

Return on Investment

Recently we have put in place an alert to notify us when a user gets locked out. This in turn tells us they are locked out before they usually even know it and we can quickly unlock them for less downtime.
Our chat in the company often will not start all services after updates on a server we set up a notification on that tells us that services are not running allowing us to get it up and working before users even come in for work.
Our dialer also frequently will not start services after server updates. We setup a notification to alert us when this happens so that we can fix the issue before our users that use the dialer even know there is a problem preventing downtime.

Alternatives Considered

We did not test any others as we already had SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor and the Server & Application monitor integrates with the Network Performance monitor. They both run on the same server as well saving on costs.

Likelihood to Recommend

We use SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor to monitor our Lync servers (Edge Frontend and Proxy Server) SharePoint servers, our auto dialer systems, Exchange servers for application issues and alert us if there is a possible issue. We also monitor our certificates for expiration, as well as we get notified when a user is locked out via a custom monitor I set up. We also monitor for low disk space as well as CPU usage and ram usage to alert us if we need to increase resources on a server.

Usability

9

I use it every day and I was able to figure out how to use it with no training and there are resources on their Thwack site for more advanced monitoring setup.

Business Processes Supported

We use it to monitor all our applications for issues
We use it to monitor all our servers for updates needed
We monitor all our servers for certificates that are about to expire
We monitor all our servers for low disk space
We set up alerts for critical issues on our applications and server issues

Key Differentiators

Product Features
Product Usability
Prior Experience with the Product
Vendor Reputation
Existing Relationship with the Vendor

We were able to integrate the Server and Application Monitor with all our other monitoring products since most of our monitoring products are made by SolarWinds it is ease of integration and visibility.

Users and Roles

20 - They are in the IT department, network monitoring, NOC, and we set up some monitoring on our customer servers that we host so they can get alerts on issues with their systems.

Support Headcount Required

2 - Must have access to all monitored systems to be able to set up new monitors when you turn up new systems that require server or application monitors.

Innovative Uses

Set up alerts to notify us when users get locked out during normal business hours. This cuts down on calls.
Use it to monitor our certificate expire dates so we can stay ahead and not have downtime on our websites due to certificates expiring
Use it to monitor updates that need to be deployed on our critical servers. this way we can see if we need to plan maintenance for update installation

Future Planned Uses

As we get more and more Linux servers we will be able to monitor processes on those systems.
We could monitor for excessive password changes in the environment to see if there has been a breach.

Likelihood to Renew

9

Easy to use and they keep expanding on its functionality. We also have a good relationship with them. Rarely have issues or need to contact support.

Other Software Used

SharePoint Designer, Juniper Ethernet Switches, Solarwinds Database Performance Analyzer for SQL Server, Unitrends Recovery Series Backup Appliance, Veeam Backup & Replication, WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product

Products Replaced

No

Evaluation Lessons Learned

I do not think I would change anything we have not had really any issues with the product as well as when we did support has gone as far as to get their engineers on the phone for a call to figure out the best way to monitor a solution we have in place.

Support Rating

10

I think there was only a couple times I had to open a support case for SAM and one time they got multiple engineers on the phone to get a better idea what I was trying to monitor and was able to point me in the best direction to monitor that system.

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Customer Support Pros and Cons

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

Premium Support

No - The support we get is better than a lot of other support for products we have. You can understand them, they are quick, and I believe the support comes with the annual license renewal price.

Bug Resolution

No

Exceptional Examples of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Support

We were trying to monitor our LTE wireless which does not communicate through SNMP. We set up a call with our LTE provider and SolarWinds to be able to monitor this system. They were able to provide 3 or more different ways to monitor the system when they got their engineers on the phone with us.

Usability Pros and Cons

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

Easy Tasks

Updating the software was very easy and they went as far as to update all the other products at the same time now so its less time consuming
Easy to set up and you can scan your systems for applications that are running on servers and SAM will auto monitor them with default out of the box selection.

Difficult Tasks

Monitoring Linux systems can be difficult but that may be because i do not have much experience in linux systems

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor perfect for monitoring applications and servers for issues

Overall Satisfaction with SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor