SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)

Score8.4 out of 10

264 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Easy Installation and Configuration: Many users have found the installation, configuration, and use of Solarwinds Network Configuration Manager to be easy. They have mentioned that the product has a simple and intuitive setup process, allowing them to quickly get started with it.

User-Friendly Reporting: Users appreciate the simplicity and ease of reporting provided by Solarwinds Network Configuration Manager. They find generating reports to be a straightforward process, thanks to the product's user-friendly interface. This allows users to easily access and analyze the necessary data.

Seamless Integration with Other SolarWinds Products: Users highlight the compatibility of Solarwinds Network Configuration Manager with other products from the same company. It seamlessly integrates with other SolarWinds tools and can run on the same server instance. This unified experience provides users with a cohesive workflow and enhances their overall efficiency.

Reviews

141 Reviews

NCM - makes our lives easy.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

November 16, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager to manage and make changes to configured switches and other network devices. It saves us a lot of time in configuring new devices because the configurations are stored on SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager also makes reports and inventory a lot easier for us. Using SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager makes it a lot easier to manage our configurations over the network.

Pros

Reports. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows us to generate config change reports
Firmware upgrades. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows us to upgrade the firmware on all our networking devices
Storing configurations. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is used as part of our disaster recovery strategy to store current configs of all devices

Cons

Network Insight can be improved to support more vendors.

Likelihood to Recommend

Whenever a device goes down, I can easily use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager to get the configurations files and reconfigure a new device. When switches and other network devices have a firmware update, I can do it from SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager either using the firmware update, or if the device is unsupported I can script the firmware update saving valuable time. NCM is great at pushing out changes to multiple devices. I have used it to update vlans, snmp, and ntp settings across over 300 devices without issues.

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology (501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager review

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

November 14, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is used to pull backups of network devices. We also try to use it to also push code to out of the box devices, which speeds up setup time. Additionally, we use it for mass code pushes to 40+ switches (VLAN additions, updates, etc.) I have saved countless hours of manual work by utilizing SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager in our environment.

Pros

Backups
Scripting
Mass updates

Cons

Likelihood to Recommend

Well suited in an environment with limited rollout time for new network devices. You can easily push code to devices from SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. Solarwinds Network Configuration Monitor would not be recommended in scenarios where there are very few network devices - for instance, five or less.

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

You get what you pay for

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

November 12, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager in our environment to backup configs on all of our network devices, as well as alert whenever there are changes that have been made.

Pros

config backup
alert on config changes
compare changes over time

Cons

reduce the cost
sales people are determined

Likelihood to Recommend

I don't know of a location where SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is not well suited, unless its just on cost.

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manger - Software that backs up your Engineer!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

September 13, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I manage the network by myself so NCM has made my job much easier simply by automating the downloads and triggering an event when the configuration has changed. I use the config compare to review changes that I have made to ensure that the change has been made correctly. It is almost like I have another employee helping me keep all the configurations in order AND keeping an eye on what changes I have made!

Pros

Automated Download of every configuration per your schedule
Notifies end user when baseline configuration does not match the current running configuration.
Easily manage the baseline configurations so that you can keep all information up to date
Beautiful dashboard red = bad green=good at a glance you can see if something is not quite right

Cons

Odd Hardware that does not have a "startup-config or running-config" per definition; it would be nice to be able to edit the rules to be in compliance for startup-config matches running-config
Policy violations are only targeted at Cisco equipment
Firmware vulnerabilities only target Cisco equipment

Likelihood to Recommend

Network Config manager is a blessing in disguise! I had made a configuration change to my environment and it did not kick back issues for several days. I was able to download the current running config and compare it to the last downloaded config prior to making changes. In any situation where things stop working you have to first ask yourself .. What changes have been made in the environment? I now rely upon config manager to store all my configurations. I no longer have to do copy tftp ugh .. ugh ... ugh .. I can click .. download config, promote to baseline and move on to the next endeavor.

Jennifer Aguilar

Senior Network Administrator in Information Technology at County of El Paso 911 District (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

8 years of experience

View profile

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager - Easy to deploy/use and just works

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

April 15, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use the SolarWinds NCM to manage the configuration of all of our network appliances, specifically all the switchgear in all of our offices, using it to maintain configuration history.

Pros

Easy to deploy
Easy to configure
Easy to manage post initial configuration

Cons

The main frustration is the overall slowness of the Orion platform, especially as more modules and nodes are added.

Likelihood to Recommend

If you are looking for a network configuration management solution, this is by far the easiest to deploy, configure and manage. It just works and we have never had any issues with it.

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology (501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

9 years of experience

Solarwinds NCM - filling the gap of automation

Rating: 6 out of 10

Incentivized

April 15, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We used Solarwinds NCM for almost a decade before the unfortunate Solarwinds hack. Automation and scripting wasn't as prevalent during those years and Solarwinds NCM filled those needs. Making configuration changes to hundreds of devices using NCM saved countless hours which was a direct benefit to the our business's bottom line. The amount of changes needed throughout a year were in the dozens as our network was constantly changing. NCM also came in clutch in many device failures because of the automated backups. We were able to quickly pull the previous configurations and restore them onto the new replacement device within minutes.

Pros

Configuration backups (incremental and timed)
Pushing out configuration changes in mass
Scheduled Firmware upgrades

Cons

Storage hungry (needs lots of storage space)
basic alerting (could benefit from triggering scripts if/then conditions)
auto-discovery didn't always work (had to manually add nodes most of the time)

Likelihood to Recommend

If your IT team isn't proficient in automation and scripting, Solarwinds NCM can fill that gap (assuming your company's security team signs off on approving SW in your environment given the hack.) Basic device configuration, pushing mass changes reliably and backups are NCM's strong suites. If you have a complex scenario where if/then cases are needed, NCM is a bit lack luster. Auto discovery isn't as easy either as certain parameters need to be met for that feature to work 100% of the time.

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

7 years of experience

NCM easy management of network configuration files

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

March 8, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

This is an outstanding tool for performing Network configuration management. Solarwinds natively support config management for most of the Cisco device types, as well as, a significant number of other Vendor types. The tool provides configuration comparison reports, vulnerability assessments, and provision to upload config back to the network nodes. The tool includes scripts that are useful in setting up and deploying nodes which is a significant time-saver during deployment. We needed to configure NCM to run inventory and compliance reports for all network assets for our auditors.

Pros

Easy to install, configure and use
Reporting is simple
Works with other SolarWinds products and can run on the same server instance as other products
Cost effective

Cons

Hot fixes for bugs are released often
Online interface can be confusing
Difficult to track changes within the tool

Likelihood to Recommend

Support for the products is 24/7, which is fantastic should you need assistance. We have used this product to keep track of configurations and configuration changes on all multi-vendor routers/switches. If we experience an outage we are able to provide services to troubleshoot and provide details regarding the outage with reports. Configuration comparison is not easy to create and does not work as expected. We have experienced issues where ports are stuck in an undefined state and cannot be removed without going directly into the database tables.

Verified User

Executive in Information Technology (501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) Review

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 28, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our organization uses SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) to take over configuration management duties and responsibilities for the networking systems, assets, and devices within our IT environment. Besides that, SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) is being utilized within our organization for its configuration backup and restore capabilities. Also, NCM has the ability to conduct compliance reporting and vulnerability assessment of network resources.

Pros

Network automation
Vulnerability assessment
Network Backups

Cons

Comparable pricing
License options
3rd Party Vendors

Likelihood to Recommend

There was a need to find an old configuration of a network switch that was accidentally wiped clean. Fortunately, SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) kept and archived a backup copy of the switch device in question! We were easily able to upload the configuration file to the switch and restore the device back on the network in a matter of minutes!

Ned Kelley

Cyber Security Engineer / Analyst in Information Technology at RTX (10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

7 years of experience

SolarWinds NCM perfect tool to manage your whole Network devices

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 26, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SolarWinds NCM to push configuration across our network Devices Routers/Switches/Firewalls on the easy way. It does more than resolve problems, we used it to automate the manual processes to save time or for quick reactions to emergency changes.

Pros

Update ACL on 500 routers switches
Updated Passwords on thousands of devices
Performance Backups of thousands on Devices

Cons

Definitely, some things that SolarWinds has to improve is get more script options for vendors different than Cisco.

Likelihood to Recommend

In my experience one of the best and strongest SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) features are the Backups, you can get these on a really simple cron job, also you can get multiple ones to compare changes in case troubleshooting is needed to compare configurations.

Eduardo Ramirez

Senior Cyber Security Engineer in Information Technology at Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

Verified on LinkedIn

Centrally manage all network devices using Solarwinds NCM

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 25, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) to manage all of our network devices in data centers and branch offices. It has been used for devices configuration backup and version control. The scripts management tool is quite useful and we have been using it for configuration central deployment.

Pros

Monitor the current status of network devices
Devices configuration backup and change tracking
Push out configuration automatically

Cons

The configuration change template could be more user friendly

Likelihood to Recommend

It works well to monitor many network devices of the whole network. The configuration scripts can be used to deploy patches or quick fixes/changes quite easily to all managed devices. The configuration backup is helpful for version control and tracing back the change history if needed.

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

8 years of experience

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SolarWinds Network Configuration Manger - Software that backs up your Engineer!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

September 13, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Automated Download of every configuration per your schedule
Notifies end user when baseline configuration does not match the current running configuration.
Easily manage the baseline configurations so that you can keep all information up to date
Beautiful dashboard red = bad green=good at a glance you can see if something is not quite right

Cons

Odd Hardware that does not have a "startup-config or running-config" per definition; it would be nice to be able to edit the rules to be in compliance for startup-config matches running-config
Policy violations are only targeted at Cisco equipment
Firmware vulnerabilities only target Cisco equipment

Likelihood to Recommend

Jennifer Aguilar

Senior Network Administrator in Information Technology at County of El Paso 911 District (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

8 years of experience

View profile