SolarWinds is a U.S.-based company that develops software for IT infrastructure management, primarily focused on helping organizations monitor, manage, and secure their networks, systems, applications, and databases.
Here’s a breakdown:
- Founded: 1999.
- Headquarters: Austin, Texas.
- Products:
- Network Performance Monitor (NPM): Tracks network health, availability, and performance.
- Server & Application Monitor (SAM): Provides visibility into server and application performance.
- Database Performance Analyzer (DPA): Optimizes and troubleshoots databases.
- Security & Event Manager (SEM): Helps detect and respond to security incidents.
- Orion Platform: A suite that integrates various SolarWinds monitoring and management tools.
- Network Performance Monitor (NPM): Tracks network health, availability, and performance.
- Customers: Widely used by enterprises, government agencies, managed service providers, and educational institutions.
In short: SolarWinds provides IT monitoring and management software, but it’s also a well-known name in cybersecurity discussions because of that high-profile breach.
What applications does Solar Winds have?
SolarWinds offers a wide suite of IT management applications that cover networks, systems, databases, applications, IT helpdesk, and security. Most of them are available as individual products or integrated together on the Orion Platform.
Here’s a categorized list of their main applications:
Network Management
- Network Performance Monitor (NPM): Monitors network availability, performance, and health.
- NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA): Tracks bandwidth usage and traffic patterns.
- IP Address Manager (IPAM): Manages IP addresses, DHCP, and DNS.
- Network Configuration Manager (NCM): Automates and secures network device configurations.
- User Device Tracker (UDT): Locates users and devices across the network.
Systems & Applications Management
- Server & Application Monitor (SAM): Tracks performance of servers and business apps.
- Virtualization Manager (VMAN): Manages VMware and Hyper-V virtual environments.
- Storage Resource Monitor (SRM): Monitors SAN and NAS storage performance.
- Web Performance Monitor (WPM): Tests and monitors web app performance.
Database Management
- Database Performance Analyzer (DPA): Monitors, analyzes, and optimizes databases (SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, etc.).
- Database Manager (DBM): Simplifies database administration.
Security & Compliance
- Security Event Manager (SEM): SIEM tool for log collection, analysis, and threat detection.
- Access Rights Manager (ARM): Manages and audits user access rights in Active Directory, file servers, etc.
- Patch Manager: Automates patching of Windows servers and third-party apps.
IT Service Management
- SolarWinds Service Desk (SWSD): Cloud-based IT helpdesk and ticketing system with ITIL features.
- Web Help Desk (WHD): On-premises ticketing and asset management.
Cloud & Hybrid IT Tools
- AppOptics: Application performance monitoring for cloud-native and hybrid apps.
- Pingdom: Website and user experience monitoring.
- Loggly & Papertrail: Cloud-based log management and monitoring.
So, depending on what an organization needs, SolarWinds applications can be used for:
- Keeping networks and servers healthy.
- Monitoring databases and applications.
- Managing security, access, and compliance.
- Running helpdesk and IT support.
- Tracking cloud and hybrid workloads.