SolarWinds has been a trusted name in the network monitoring space for quite some time now. Their solutions are used by thousands of organizations all over the world. In this blog, we will be discussing about one of their products called SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NCM).
This product is useful for network administrators and engineers who want to monitor their networks from a single pane of glass. In this blog, we will be covering the key features, benefits, limitations, and deployment considerations for SolarWinds NCM. If you’re reading this blog and wondering if SolarWinds NCM is right for your organization…read on!
Key Features of SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
Here are some of the key features of SolarWinds NCM.
- Centralized Network Monitoring – SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor offers centralized network monitoring and troubleshooting. You can centrally monitor your entire network from a single pane of glass. This ensures that you are better equipped to identify and fix network issues, which is a major pain point for network administrators.
- Performance and Capacity Analysis – Performance and capacity analysis is a critical capability for any network management solution. SolarWinds NCM does a great job at this. You can use it to identify bottlenecks and understand how well your network is performing from a utilization and capacity perspective.
- Visibility into Network Assets and Applications – The network is more than just switches and routers. It also includes servers, applications, and network devices. SolarWinds NCM offers visibility into all of these network elements. This helps you identify potential issues before they happen and troubleshoot them more efficiently.
- Network Security Monitoring – Network security monitoring is an afterthought for most network administrators. They look at logs, acknowledge alerts, and hope that everything is running fine. This is a bad practice that can put your organization at risk. SolarWinds NCM offers network security monitoring capabilities that can help you prevent potential threats and attacks.
Benefits of using SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
If you’re looking for a network monitoring solution, then SolarWinds NCM is right for you. Here are some of the key benefits of using this network monitoring solution.
- Centralized Network Monitoring – As we discussed earlier, centralized network monitoring is a key benefit of using SolarWinds NCM. This single pane of glass approach ensures that you are aware of the health of your entire network. This helps you identify and fix network issues quickly.
- Visibility into Network Assets and Applications – This is another important benefit of using SolarWinds NCM. It offers visibility into network elements such as servers, applications, and network devices. This helps you understand the health of these network elements and identify potential issues before they happen.
- Performance and Capacity Analysis – Performance and capacity analysis is another key benefit of using SolarWinds NCM. This gives you deeper insights into how your network is performing and assists you in understanding how well your network is utilized.
- Network Security Monitoring – Network security monitoring is an afterthought for most network administrators. They look at logs, acknowledge alerts, and hope that everything is running fine. This is a bad practice that can put your organization at risk. SolarWinds NCM offers network security monitoring capabilities that can help you prevent potential threats and attacks.
Limitations of SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
SolarWinds NCM is a great network monitoring solution. However, it is important to understand its limitations before making a decision to deploy it. Here are the key limitations of SolarWinds NCM.
- Single Operating System – SolarWinds NCM supports only a single operating system. You can only monitor Windows systems with this product. If you have a mixed environment with Windows and non-Windows systems, then you will have to look at other network monitoring solutions.
- Packaged Deployment – SolarWinds NCM is a packaged deployment. This means that you will have to engage a partner or a provider to deploy and install this solution in your organization. It might not be the best option for smaller organizations that want a more DIY approach.
- Single App for Network Monitoring – SolarWinds NCM is a single app for network monitoring. This means that you can monitor only one network with this solution. If you want to monitor more than one network, then you will have to look at other network monitoring solutions.
How to Deploy SolarWinds NCM?
If you are convinced about SolarWinds NCM and want to go ahead with it, then you need to deploy it. Here are the steps that you need to follow to get SolarWinds NCM up and running.
- Identify the Requirements – The first thing that you need to do is to identify the requirements for SolarWinds NCM. This will help you get a better idea about the network requirements and the hardware that you will need to deploy it.
- Select the Deployment Option – Once you have identified the requirements, you need to select the deployment option for SolarWinds NCM. There are three options for deploying SolarWinds NCM – packaged, virtual appliance, and on-premises. You can choose any of these options based on your requirements.
- Purchase the License – Once you have completed the above two steps, you need to purchase the license for SolarWinds NCM. You can buy the Standard edition to start with and upgrade to the Enterprise edition when you outgrow the Standard edition.
Conclusion
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NCM) is a great network monitoring solution that offers central network monitoring, performance and capacity analysis, and visibility into network assets and applications. It also offers network security monitoring capabilities that can help you prevent potential threats and attacks. SolarWinds NCM is a single app for network monitoring which means that you can monitor only one network with this solution. If you want to monitor more than one network, then you will have to look at other network monitoring solutions. SolarWinds NCM also offers a packaged deployment option where you will have to engage a partner or a provider to deploy and install this solution in your organization.
