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SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor pros and cons

Vendor: SolarWinds
4.0 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Management is simplified with features that include capacity planning, recommendations, and diagnostics.
SSL Certificate Monitoring, Expiry Alerting, and AppInsight offer in-depth application monitoring.
Group management capabilities provide visibility into sites and categories, enhancing dashboard utility.
Open database integration supports compatibility with various service desks, enabling seamless operations.
AppStack and application dependency features provide comprehensive identification and alert capabilities.

CONS

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor needs enhanced performance and stability, especially regarding the web console which can crash or hang.
Reporting features in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor are complex and need improvement, including the ability to export reports to Excel.
The subscription management for different modules in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor lacks synchronization, impacting licensing periods.
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor has limitations in application performance monitoring, especially with non-Microsoft technologies like Apache.
Technical support response times for SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor have declined, affecting timely issue resolution.
 

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Pros review quotes

it_user631218 - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 27, 2017
Manage Groups: The capability to group appropriate devices gives better visibility of sites, categories, or critical regions. The same can be used to represent a dashboard for higher management.
NetworkOb0a3 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 7, 2017
Extremely user friendly: Any IT professional can learn how to admin NPM in a short time.
it_user652953 - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 25, 2017
The features like trends, capacity planning, recommendations, and diagnostics are the main items I focus on for added value.
Learn what your peers think about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.
872,655 professionals have used our research since 2012.
UA
Nov 13, 2019
Solarwinds has an open database that allows you to do serious integrations. It doesn't matter which service desk you have, you can implement and integrate it with SolarWinds.
it_user660063 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 15, 2018
Monitoring the components on your devices with out of the box monitors or the ability to create new ones (SAM)
it_user660057 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 7, 2017
I adore the NTA module that provides deep details on ingress/egress traffic for any interface. With a few clicks, you can correlate who is accessing what and when, beside the bandwidth consuming applications/users.
Subhajit Nag - PeerSpot reviewer
May 19, 2022
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.
it_user653568 - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 26, 2017
AppInsight for SQL: Enables us to see the relevant error log entries on the same page as performance parameters.
VIVEK PATHAK - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 9, 2024
The solution can be deployed quickly.
PS
Mar 17, 2025
The most beneficial aspect of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is its ability to monitor at the application level.
 

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor Cons review quotes

it_user631218 - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 27, 2017
PerfStack can be made more effective. I am sure SolarWinds already has a plan for the same in coming versions.
NetworkOb0a3 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 7, 2017
Nodes in Azure are able to be monitored with the use of agents, but this does not apply to cloud service offerings that are not node based.
it_user652953 - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 25, 2017
I believe that some of the trends, environmental maps, and items like those found in Orion would be very beneficial.
Learn what your peers think about SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.
872,655 professionals have used our research since 2012.
UA
Nov 13, 2019
When you implement SolarWinds on a larger scale my customers complain about the speed.
it_user660057 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 7, 2017
I think they need to make reporting easier and more simple & dynamic.
Subhajit Nag - PeerSpot reviewer
May 19, 2022
It should also be easier to upgrade SolarWinds. AppDynamics is harder to deploy but easier to upgrade. So AppDynamics takes a lot of time and effort to install, but you can upgrade it in minutes. SolarWinds is the opposite. It's easy to deploy, but upgrades take forever. To date, nobody can complete it on time, so the production environment is sitting idle.
VIVEK PATHAK - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 9, 2024
The major concern in the product revolves around application performance monitoring since end-to-end application monitoring is not possible with the tool.
it_user653568 - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 26, 2017
SAM AppInsight for SQL: The ability to ignore fragmentation of specific indexes.
PS
Mar 17, 2025
For each poller, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor can only monitor up to ten thousand components, which restricts scalability.
NikhilKalwint - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 24, 2025
From an integration point of view, if you want to have a manager of manager kind of layer, that is currently lacking in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor.