We compared Nagios Core and SolarWinds NPM across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:
Features: Nagios Core is an adaptable solution praised for its integration, customizability, and ability to effectively monitor server availability and network connectivity. SolarWinds NPM is commended for its adaptability and extensive network surveillance functionalities.
Room for Improvement: Nagios Core users have requested better documentation, improved scalability, and a more user-friendly configuration process. SolarWinds NPM needs improvement in edge computing capabilities and data reporting. Users also said the performance could be better and that they would like to see expanded IPAM functionality.
Service and Support: Nagios Core lacks direct customer service, but users can generally find help from a supportive open-source community and large knowledge base. While some customers described SolarWinds support as helpful and responsive, others reported delayed responses.
Ease of Deployment: Nagios Core's setup is generally seen as well-documented and straightforward. Some users said SolarWinds NPM was straightforward to set up, while others perceived it as complex.
Pricing: Nagios Core is free, but users may incur costs for installation and configuration. The cost of SolarWinds NPM varies depending on the customer’s size and requirements. Some users find it costly.
ROI: Nagios Core users say they have saved money by replacing paid monitoring tools with this open-source solution. Some users reported immediate benefits from using SolarWinds NPM in terms of security and business outcomes, while others have not.
Comparison Results: Nagios Core is a flexible open-source solution that is highly customizable and offers robust functionality commonly found in paid enterprise solutions. However, some users have said that Nagios Core becomes unwieldy when used at a large scale and that the documentation could be more thorough. SolarWinds NPM is a customizable solution that’s easy to deploy and features comprehensive network monitoring capabilities. However, some users consider it costly and voiced concerns about technical support and user experience.
"We can manage the entire system across the network and troubleshoot the pain points."
"The single dashboard is a valuable feature."
"It is fairly easy to set up, and we can monitor pretty much everything we want to."
"Provides timely notifications."
"Other products are good but from the configuration point of view Nagios is really very lightweight. The price is really good in my opinion. Another important thing is that my Nagios engine still works with Dual core 8GB ram for the last 10 years."
"The most valuable feature is the performance parameters of the system."
"The application performance monitoring feature is valuable."
"We use the product to monitor server applications."
"The notifications are definitely one of the most valuable features of Nagios Core. We know what to look for and what to expect when things are down."
"The most valuable feature of Nagios Core is the ability to check the availability of the server for network connectivity. Additionally, the interface is good."
"As we look to add more servers to our virtual environment and to understand the impact, the solution allows us to dig into the historical charts related to capacity planning."
"SolarWinds NPM provides an overview of network monitoring, extending its capabilities to cover other aspects, such as virtual machines and servers. The platform has features like NetPath, which is particularly beneficial for end-users, offering insights into issues like latency, packet loss, and connectivity problems with routers, switches, or servers."
"The solution is extremely stable. We haven't had any issues in that regard. We haven't had issues with bugs, glitches, or crashes."
"It is scalable."
"Their support team is efficient, and it is easy to set up."
"It's easy to understand, even if you are not too technical."
"I like SolarWinds support because it's 24/7. You describe your issues, your situation and maybe two or three hours later you can discuss a solution with a technical engineer."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the alerts."
"The technical support needs improvement."
"The Wi-Fi side needs improvement."
"Would benefit from aggregations if a particular server goes down."
"I believe Nagios Core will need to provide an option for big data platforms in the future."
"I would like to see more training videos."
"I would like to see a sensor that shows the traffic of a user and what they're doing on the network."
"Nagios Core can improve the graphical interface, it would make things a little easier."
"The mapping is a little hard."
"The dashboard and monitoring features could be improved."
"The UI is a little outdated and graphics could be displayed in a better way."
"The evaluation time for the product is too short especially for large corporations."
"Fortigate firewalls are one example of a product that we are unable to monitor properly via SolarWinds NPM."
"They have had a rather large security breach in the past. It's cost some companies customers."
"It is not that stable. As a Windows software, I have seen issues with SolarWinds. The performance is slow."
"SolarWinds could offer more support and insights for a broader range of devices. Currently, it focuses on routers, switches, and some load balancers. However, it lacks an out-of-the-box dashboard for monitoring firewalls and some other modern network security devices. We have to customize it a lot."
"The only real caveat that we have or that I have an issue with is when I go on vacation, it's a little hard for me to go and modify alerts so that I don't get alerted about things when I'm on vacation."
"Application Performance Monitoring should be included in this solution."
"An area for improvement in SolarWinds NPM is the short retention period. Currently, it's just for seven days of data, which is very low, making it hard for my organization to keep that data. SolarWinds recommended a seven-day retention period, but my organization needs a fourteen-day data retention period. Hence, I'd like an increase in the retention period or the database limit in SolarWinds NPM because you can't go back to the data for any investigation if seven days have passed. Another area for improvement in SolarWinds NPM is the database, which needs to be a bit more mature. I want a modified database in the next release of SolarWinds NPM. I'd also like more options added to groups because, currently, it's very limited."
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Nagios Core is ranked 7th in Network Monitoring Software with 46 reviews while SolarWinds NPM is ranked 4th in Network Monitoring Software with 147 reviews. Nagios Core is rated 8.0, while SolarWinds NPM is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Nagios Core writes "An Open Source Fully Featured Data Centre Monitoring Tool". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SolarWinds NPM writes "High-level, comprehensive, and proactive monitoring in a user-friendly interface". Nagios Core is most compared with Zabbix, Nagios XI, Icinga, Centreon and OP5 Monitor, whereas SolarWinds NPM is most compared with Zabbix, PRTG Network Monitor, ManageEngine OpManager, ThousandEyes and Entuity. See our Nagios Core vs. SolarWinds NPM report.
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