SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Initial Setup

it_user631218 - PeerSpot reviewer
Subject Matter Expert at a tech company with 10,001+ employees

The initial setup was pretty easy.

  1. We had to start with base monitoring of our infrastructure which includes server down, CPU threshold, memory threshold, and disk threshold issues.
  2. Once the pre-requisites were in place (SolarWinds Server and the DB server), we went ahead and installed SolarWinds SAM on our environment. This was pretty straightforward and self-explanatory.
  3. We used Network Sonar Discovery to discover the devices and on-boarded the same.
  4. We created generic alerts for the conditions mentioned (server down, CPU threshold, memory threshold and disk threshold issues).The above process hardly took a day's time and our SAM setup was up and running.
  5. We incrementally built our setup, i.e., the application monitoring part (creation of SAM templates).

Please note: SolarWinds also provides a Product Upgrade Advisor for upgrading modules, which is a great add-on. This makes it so simple for new admins to upgrade the modules without any issues. It gives granular data for module upgrades.

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Subhajit Nag - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Process Associate at Tata Consultancy Services

The initial deployment isn't a challenge. It takes two or three hours if you have multiple polling engines. However, upgrades can be problematic. Let's say we have 12 to 14 additional polling engines. It takes about a month because we have to do it one at a time on the weekend during non-business hours. This is a considerable limitation because a centralized upgrade doesn't work correctly in an offline environment.

For security reasons, we don't have permission to upgrade all the engines at once online. The SolarWinds team is also clueless about helping us. Their documentation is inadequate. Upgrading SolarWinds is a time-consuming process, posing a significant problem for us. We have an eight-person team deploying and maintaining SolarWinds.

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IR
Manager at QMUL

The initial setup is relatively straightforward, and I would consider it one of the system's strong points.

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Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
UmeshJoshi - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales Specialist at Hexaware Technologies

The initial setup was complex as it was all a manual process. It had to be built from scratch, then all the devices needed to be onboarded and monitored before the matrices had to be configured on those devices. The amount of time taken would depend on the size of the infrastructure, including the number of devices that need to be monitored and what matrices are involved. A minimum of two months would be required to get everything installed and running well.

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Dheeraj_Reddy - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure Architect at Cognizant

The initial setup of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is straightforward. We only need to make a design based on the infrastructure and applications we have. Then once we design the setup, we can deploy it.

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PN
Senior Associate Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

The initial setup of the SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is easy. The full process of deployment took approximately three to four months. The amount of time it takes depends on the environment.

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Ravi Khanchandani - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder Director at Techsa Services

The tool's installation is easy and can be completed in a couple of hours. You need to plan and figure out what exactly would you like to monitor. For example, when a customer has 2000 servers, then you would need to find the application groups and define them. If a customer has a large web server environment then you need to create dashboards for the web administrators. The tool is flexible and allows you to do it. 

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Catherine Akinwolere - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at Lumenave

The initial setup is very easy. I rate the ease of setup a ten out of ten.

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UA
Enterprise Solutions & Services Head at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

The initial setup is straightforward. It's easy to implement, but when you implement it in a huge environment you will have some complexity. Also if you implement it in a single box, it can be complex.

If it is a mid-scale customer they can implement this solution on their own. They will need only two or three bars and a maximum of two servers are more than enough to implement.

If it's a small solution, you can implement it. It keeps the database separate. It's straightforward, it is not difficult.

Overall it is a very simple implementation.

The length of deployment depends on the infrastructure, the customer that I am referring to took a month and a half to implement most of the requirements. 

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Donald Bakels - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Adfontessoftware

The initial setup is very straightforward.  

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Catherine Akinwolere - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at Lumenave

It was pretty much straightforward. Anybody who doesn't understand the basics of SQL can make use of the backend, but you need to have a little bit of experience with SQL before you can use the frontend for the reports.

The deployment takes up to an hour. Normally, the installation part will take around 45 minutes to complete. When it comes to the configuration part, it takes time depending on the devices you want to onboard to SolarWinds.

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it_user660063 - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure Monitoring Engineer at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees

The initial setup was straightforward, but it’s very important to understand the amount of objects (CPU, memory, network interfaces, any monitored component) to monitor. You could easily overload the environment if you pull everything.

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SB
Network Operation Center Team Leader at a recruiting/HR firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

The setup was very easy. SolarWinds has invested a significant amount of effort into streamlining and improving the install process. It is one of the easiest tools out there to set up. SolarWinds nailed on this one.

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SK
SME Solarwinds at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The tool's initial deployment is easy. You can easily use the product with a day's training. 

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it_user653568 - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Services Department Manager at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The setup was very straightforward. Upgrades are getting easier over the eight years that we have been using the products.

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it_user664653 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Monitoring Technologies Engineer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

The initial setup was fairly straightforward, although there are a few gotchas that are not well documented.

Ror small shops and for those new to monitoring it is simple to set up and implement. The OOTB (Out of the Box) implementation does have very good node specific pages and can provide a wealth of information.This is the key.The OOTB it provides is more than other tools in a usable format.

But simple WMI monitors using both canned and user built provide more comprehensive monitoring and alerting capabilities…This is based on experiences implementing other solutions in very dynamic large environments. It has had improvements in the unix/linux world but still remains primarily windows centric.


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it_user652953 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Director at a construction company with 51-200 employees

I found the setup really very easy, if you are familiar with deploying '.ova' files. The setup was a snap, and the setup wizard really walks you through everything.

Their documentation is very detailed and if you need support, you can use their technical support and THWACK, which is world class and ahead of its time.

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PB
Service Manager at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

The solution’s deployment is more or less easy. SolarWinds provides a step-by-step procedure for the tool’s installation.

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ME
Senior Officer at a international affairs institute with 201-500 employees

The solution isn't complex to set up. It's pretty straightforward.

The deployment takes about a week. It doesn't take too long.

We have one person, more or less, that's handling the solution and can handle maintenance as required. 

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UM
IT Consultant at a tech services company

The initial setup was pretty straightforward. We found it rather easy.

In terms of setup, traditionally, to configure any single node, it takes about five to ten minutes.

In order to maintain the solution, a company would need at least two people: one to monitor performance and another to monitor the application itself.

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PS
Group Chief Technology Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

The initial setup of this solution is complex.

The deployment took four weeks.

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Catherine Akinwolere - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at Lumenave

The initial setup is very straightforward. Deployment depends on the customer's infrastructure, on what they have and what they would like to add to the solution.

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MC
CTO at Smart Factor

The initial setup took four hours. Including configuring a network for 300 Cisco switches and 32 cloud servers including database servers.  

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it_user660057 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees

It is very easy to install. There is no need for experience to install it.

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OK
Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The initial setup is not that straightforward. It takes approximately two to three days. 

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MD
ICT Network Infrastructure & Architect at a transportation company with 1-10 employees

The initial setup is relatively easy. Because it's a cloud solution, we didn't have to install anything. All we had to do was put on the devices we wanted to monitor.

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TZ
Business Consultant. at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

This solution is simple to deploy. I do not need more than two or three hours to complete it.

I spend perhaps 30 minutes customizing it, making technical changes for the customer's environment and infrastructure. This can be done once we have all of the information that we need concerning the IT processes.

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it_user685350 - PeerSpot reviewer
Availability & Production Mgr, IT at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees

The setup was straightforward, customization requires time and resource investment.

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it_user577974 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Administrator at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

Straightforward. After creating a service account that had proper permissions on the systems that were going to be monitored. The agent-less deployment was quick and very easy.

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AM
Senior Information Security Officer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

The initial setup is very straightforward. We have five to six administrators.

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SG
IT Leadership, System Management at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The setup was complex. We had local support to assist us.

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Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.