SolarWinds NPM Review

NPM is very helpful in identifying spanning tree and/or routing issues

Historical interface statistics & historical storage utilization.

I have been able to catch network/server issues before they became critical. It also enables me to free up disk space on a critical drive before it completely runs out of space. Tickets can be pro-actively opened with carriers when we see CRC's and errors on interfaces. Lastly, I can quickly identify spanning tree and/or routing issues by watching syslog & trap messages.

Reporting functions are limited & difficult to modify.

Over 7 years

No issues encountered.

Not anymore. Years ago I would frequently have issues after performing software upgrades, but over the last 3 years that has improved significantly.

Not much, but I have had issues with our SQL database becoming fragmented over time & having to engage a SQL expert to address it.

Over all customer service has always been timely, helpful & friendly.

Overall tech support has been timely & helpful whenever I've needed assistance. I've opened literally dozens upon dozens of tickets over the years and most of the time I get the answers I need on the first call.

Previously WhatsUp Gold.

Setup has always been very intuitive & simple.

In-house implementation.

Not sure how to quantify that, but it has been well worth the cost in my opinion. The problem is getting my co-workers to actually use it.

Depending on the number of nodes to be monitored, take careful steps to size the polling server & SQL server appropriately. If at all possible, use a dedicated SQL box. Also, take the time to configure all of your network devices to send syslog & traps to the NPM server.