SolarWinds updates network management portfolio

SolarWinds, a provider of IT management software, has made a broad refresh to its market-leading network management portfolio.

The addition of Network Insight support for Palo Alto Networks and key enhancements to the SolarWinds Orion Platform bring greater data visibility and scalability to IT pros.

SolarWinds is recognised by IDC as the market leader in network management software and holds the May 2019 Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice distinction for Network Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics.

"Today, running a network is essential to running a business. Monitoring has to move beyond element management," says SolarWinds product strategy vice president Mav Turner.

"IT pros need to understand the services that their devices provide to the network, and how that impacts the business.

Network Insight features are designed to simplify the management of complex network devices by providing the right information for each device's unique role in the network. SolarWinds has expanded its Network Insight features to include support for Palo Alto Networks firewalls.

The primary job of firewalls is permitting safe traffic and blocking dangerous traffic.

With Network Insight for Palo Alto Networks, users can analyse security policies, understand how they've changed over time, and inspect the traffic flowing through the policies.

Users can monitor site-to-site VPN tunnels and GlobalProtect client VPN performance. With PerfStack dashboards, a feature of the Orion Platform, users can correlate service delivery data with traditional metrics, such as interface, CPU, and memory utilisation, all on a common timeline.

Network Insight features are also available for Cisco ASA firewalls, Cisco Nexus switches, and F5 BIG-IP load balancers.

"Every day, IT pros are expected to do more with less," Turner adds.

"We believe visibility is the key to uncovering and resolving most IT problems. Tech pros told us they didn't have visibility into the primary function of critical devices in their network, so we created Network Insight to solve for that blind spot.

Network Insight for Palo Alto Networks is available in SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM), NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA), Network Configuration Manager (NCM), and User Device Tracker (UDT).

Within its network management software portfolio, SolarWinds has also added the following updates:

• Orion Maps leverage data in the Orion Platform to automatically build maps that come alive with current status and performance. Users can now customise these maps and add them to any dashboard.
   
• Centralised upgrades allow a user to upgrade a large, distributed environment from a single location.
   
• Azure SQL Database is now a deployment option for the Orion Platform. Coupled with existing support for AWS RDS, this update expands the deployment options for customers, whether on-premises or in the cloud.
   
• NetFlow Traffic Analyzer now supports IPv6, expanding visibility into both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic detail.
   
• VoIP - Network Quality Manager (VNQM) delivers real-time call metrics and SIP trunk utilisation from the Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE).
   
• IP Address Manager (IPAM) expands a self-service portal for IP address requests, improving notifications and adding the ability to add custom fields and process requests with more control.