HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO) vs SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Server Monitoring category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #15 with an average rating of 9.0, while SolarWinds is ranked #10 with an average rating of 7.4. Additionally, 50% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

HPE Integrated Lights Out (...

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50% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Read 42 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor reviews

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792 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

HPE Integrated Lights Out (...

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 21, 2025

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and HPE Integrated Lights Out iLO are competing in IT infrastructure management. iLO has the upper hand in hardware management, while SolarWinds is favored for software monitoring.

Features: SolarWinds provides in-depth monitoring with real-time alerts, server performance tracking, and application health insights. iLO is known for remote server management, hardware configuration, and firmware-level integration.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SolarWinds offers straightforward installation and responsive support, aiding efficient deployment. iLO setup is complex due to firmware integration but allows advanced remote management.

Pricing and ROI: SolarWinds offers a SaaS model with a lower upfront cost and pay-as-you-go pricing, appealing to budget-conscious buyers. iLO entails a higher initial cost but provides long-term savings through robust hardware management.

To learn more, read our detailed Server Monitoring Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Server Monitoring

September 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

HPE Integrated Lights Out (...

Ranking in Server Monitoring

15th

Average Rating

9.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SolarWinds Server and Appli...

Ranking in Server Monitoring

10th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (20th), Active Directory Management (10th)

Featured Reviews

Alexander Monahan

Senior Systems Administrator at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees

Positive access capabilities and user-friendly interface empower efficient server management while cost and licensing concerns persist

HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO) is user-friendly, offering easy navigation and a nice GUI. It provides an alternative network connection, enabling access to servers without physical access. The software is highly valued for its ability to bring servers back up remotely, essential for minimizing downtime in critical situations. HPE iLO is a strong competitor to iDRAC. Being a second network interface physically installed on a server, iLO provides an extra IP to access the server, bypassing other layers such as ESXi or Proxmox, and enabling BIOS-level access. The remote software involved is fantastic for recovering servers quickly and efficiently when they go down, providing significant improvements to organizational operations. Whether dealing with international or local solutions, iLO can save considerable time, reducing downtime from minutes to weeks depending on location. It is particularly useful for integrating with Microsoft Active Directory, simplifying login issues, and mitigating risks of login leaks through Multi-Factor Authentication. The quick response times from HPE support, including shipping parts and sending techs promptly, add to the overall efficiency and reliability of solutions involving HPE iLO. The integration of iLO with vSphere provides a seamless user experience, making navigation feel consistent across platforms.

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VIVEK PATHAK

Solutions Architect at Airtel

Offering reasonably good dashboarding features but needs to improve the application performance monitoring

My company uses Riverbed for application performance monitoring. I was doing research so that I could understand if SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor provide APM capabilities similar to Riverbed, which allows our company to get a packet capture of an entire session, and on the basis of it, we look at the application performance monitoring part. With SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor, my company does SNMP polling, so it can drag an entire session, but it focuses more on availability, CPU memory, and server connection status. In Riverbed, my company catches an entire system, so when we deal with two applications, we have end-to-end app visibility. All the application monitoring happens through Riverbed. Our company's main problem is that, as of now, we have two different products in our organization, and we don't want to continue with the multiple products currently. I wanted to understand if SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor already have capabilities like Riverbed, and if they do, then I wanted to figure out why our company should not go with SolarWinds and why we are using products from multiple vendors. My company needs to continue with either Riverbed or SolarWinds. I wanted to see which products are good for the organization and how much I want to continue with Riverbed.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO) is user-friendly, offering easy navigation and a nice GUI."

"HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO) has the best features for detecting any kind of hardware failure, such as any DIMM, HDD, system board, or PSU failures, providing real-time alarms with all necessary information."

"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is the network devices' performance monitor is the best."

"Identifying the problem statement is easy."

"Management Console - Managing service to each server enrolled in the Solarwinds is much easier. Using a web base console, you can control your service much convenient way. There is no need to login remotely. It save a lot of time and effort."

"One of the most valuable features are the reports. They're pretty good. Also, the ease of installation and customization for the client is another feature that we value. SolarWinds has a lot of features but these are the ones I like the most. We also like that the KPIs have the ability to be preset."

"The application dependency feature identifies issues between applications and servers or within the network where the application is hosted. It highlights related problems, whether related to packet processing or other issues, enabling the creation of alerts and reports accordingly."

"AppInsight. Provides a simple way to get very in-depth monitoring configured for our most popular applications. Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint."

"The graphical interfaces, GUI customizations, and alert configurations are impressive."

"The component and cable monitoring are good. SolarWinds is more intuitive and user-friendly than AppDynamics. The AppDynamics console is more complex because it's a more feature-rich solution, so it's not easy for somebody to pick it up."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros

Cons

"Sometimes when the system fails, iLO doesn't get the proper information from the system, so there's a need for improvement so it can provide real-time information for our engineers to give the correct solutions to customers."

"I am currently avoiding HPE in my current build because of the pricing that is almost highway robbery. Service contracts are required to receive firmware updates."

"The tool's AppStack needs to improve in the storage monitoring part. It should also include an analytics and recommendation approach. If I have found a fault in a server or application, I would like to know what caused it and how do I recover from it."

"Application-based monitoring, such as monitoring within servers like Apache and IIS, has room for improvement."

"The technical support was better in previous years. With the launch of the premium support service, the normal support has declined."

"Reporting is the only thing with which we currently have challenges. They have this in two ways. There is the report writer, which is the backend, and we also have web reports, which are on the console. So, they have removed the report writer for the backend reports, and we are making use of the web console, but most of the users are not finding it very interesting to use the frontend reports. I would like them to bring back the report writer. That's the key area within it to improve on the reporting. If they can bring back the report writer, then most users will actually be comfortable. I have some customers who are trying to export their report to an Excel format, but it is not possible because they said any report that has been done from the web console cannot be exported to Excel, but most of the customers need to export their reports to Excel. That's one area they need to work on."

"I believe that some of the trends, environmental maps, and items like those found in Orion would be very beneficial."

"SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor could improve by having a cloud version. They have an observability platform but it still needs to be maintained by us."

"An additional feature that would improve this solution is the ability to complete root cause analysis."

"The tool’s report feature created issues for us. We needed to gain skills to use that feature. The tool’s customization is not easy since you have to reconfigure the whole system."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"I have always said SolarWinds is very “proud” of their products, meaning they are expensive. I cannot afford to purchase all the licenses I need for all the SolarWinds products."

"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. It is just the standard price, but it can vary depending on the current rate of the dollar."

"The product might cost you $30,000 USD to buy, but scaling this solution requires the purchase of additional polling engines at $20,000 USD each."

"Price can always be lower. It is neither on the expensive side nor on the cheap side. We have worked with them for a lot of years, so we get a discount due to the size of the installation."

"The product is expensive."

"When planning for the number of licenses to purchase, make sure you understand all of the elements within an application required to really understand performance well. In our case, we quickly came to the conclusion that an unlimited license for SAM was the way to go."

"When compared to other licensed models in the market, it stands out as one of the more cost-effective options."

"The licenses start from USD 3000.00 and go up to USD 20,000.00 for the year. It's a perpetual license. Nothing is free in SolarWinds, anything that you need is an additional cost."

More SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Insurance Company

24%

Manufacturing Company

16%

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	20

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO)?

Regarding pricing or set-up costs and licensing, HPE's approach is quite intense compared to Dell, Cisco, Microsoft, Lenovo, etc. Avoiding HPE in the current structure due to high costs would be co...

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What needs improvement with HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO)?

There could be improvements in the licensing model of HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO), which is perceived as expensive, requiring service contracts to access firmware updates. This pricing model is...

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What is your primary use case for HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO)?

HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO) is a secondary access tool. It's used for server monitoring and management. HPE iLO is particularly useful in cases where physical access to the server is not possib...

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What do you like most about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

Identifying the problem statement is easy.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

The initial cost is quite high, but the renewal cost is reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor?

There are no specific features or functionality I would like to see improved or enhanced in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor at this time. I have not encountered any missing features or fu...

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Server Monitoring

September 2025

Download HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO) product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor

September 2025

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor report

Download SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor product report

Also Known As

No data available

SolarWinds SAM

Overview

HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO) is a tool that enables remote server management, enhancing efficiency in IT operations. Its key functions include monitoring, diagnosing, and managing HPE servers.

HPE Integrated Lights Out provides substantial benefits to IT departments by offering robust remote management tools. With iLO, administrators can efficiently monitor and control HPE servers from a distance, allowing for quick problem detection and resolution. iLO integrates effectively with existing infrastructure, ensuring seamless operations without additional complexities. Offering a comprehensive suite of features, iLO stands out in facilitating timely software updates and ensuring system stability across different environments.

What are the most important features of HPE Integrated Lights Out (iLO)?

Remote Management: Allows administrators to manage servers remotely, increasing operational efficiency and flexibility.
Monitoring and Alerting: Provides real-time monitoring tools and alerts for quick issue resolution.
Security: Offers advanced security features to protect data and manage access privileges.
Firmware Updates: Facilitates automated updates, ensuring systems run on the latest software.

What benefits or ROI should be considered?

Cost Efficiency: Reduces the need for onsite IT support, lowering travel and operational costs.
Time Savings: Minimizes downtime by enabling quick troubleshooting and solutions deployment.
Scalability: Supports growing IT infrastructures seamlessly, making it ideal for expanding operations.
Enhanced Security: Decreases the risk of unauthorized access, safeguarding sensitive information.

In industries such as healthcare and finance, HPE Integrated Lights Out is implemented to ensure highly reliable and secure server management. Its remote management capabilities are critical in clinical environments, where maintaining uptime is essential. Financial institutions leverage its robust security features to protect sensitive data, ensuring compliance with industry regulations. iLO's adaptability makes it suitable for integration into diverse IT landscapes, offering a reliable backbone for operations across sectors.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) delivers powerful application and server monitoring capabilities for IT pros, enabling them to diagnose and troubleshoot performance issues faster. Do not let slow applications and downtime impact your end-users and business services. Pinpoint the root cause of application issues across various layers of the IT stack. SolarWinds SAM is affordable and easy to deploy, use, and customize. You can automatically discover your system's environment and start monitoring in about an hour. No professional services or consultation needed.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Andr. L. Riis AS, NetSuite

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