SolarWinds targets SMBs with new monitoring product

AUSTIN, TEXAS: SolarWinds, a leader in network management software, has announced the availability of ipMonitor v9.0, a cost-effective, easy-to-use network, server and application monitoring system designed for small- and medium-sized businesses with less than 500 managed devices. New features in ipMonitor 9.0 include industry-leading SmartMonitor technology, a cutting-edge web interface and graphic-based dashboard, network mapping capabilities, out-of-the-box user experience monitoring, and instant monitoring of business-critical applications such as Microsoft Exchange, Active Directory and SQL server.

SmartMonitor technology enables ipMonitor to automatically recommend optimal monitors and data collection settings for applications and servers across the network. SmartMonitor settings allow IT administrators to eliminate the guesswork from determining what to monitor or how monitoring should be configured, saving considerable time and effort. In addition, ipMonitor is 100 percent web-based and completely agent-less, enabling quick deployment without having to interrupt critical services or applications. Unlike other network monitoring solutions that are agent-based, administrators need not interrupt the availability of essential infrastructure elements in order to implement a reliable monitoring, alerting and recovery solution.

“Our SMB customers have been asking for an easy-to-use network monitoring solution that can help simplify and automate network monitoring across all of their network assets,” said Kenny Van Zant, chief product strategist, SolarWinds. “Today we are delivering on that request with the release of ipMonitor version 9.0, which leverages enterprise-class functionality from other SolarWinds products, including advanced mapping capabilities and a graphic-based web interface, at a competitive price point.”

Networks have become an integral part of day-to-day business operations, supporting e-mail, business applications, hosted services and communications with customers and partners. Maintaining the availability of critical applications and devices becomes increasingly vital to the efficiency, productivity and overall success of organizations. Capabilities of ipMonitor include:

• Quickly discovers IP-based network devices and automatically recommends SmartMonitor settings for each device – a huge time savings over manual configuration.
• Performs out-of-the-box monitoring of Active Directory, DNS, Microsoft Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, SMTP and more.
• Provides a cutting-edge user interface and graphical-based dashboard with “at-a- glance” views enabling users to quickly get a clear view of the health of their network and application infrastructures.
• Enables both logical and dynamic grouping of devices to facilitate organization and management.
• Monitors end-user experience with synthetic transactions.
• Creates customizable network maps that enable users to visually monitor network data and to drill down to take immediate corrective actions.
• Automates recovery and remediation actions to reduce downtime.
• Leverages SNMP, WMI and RPC for agent-less monitoring critical applications and systems.

“ipMonitor has distinct advantages over many other network monitoring solutions for the SMB,” said Christian Schmidt, CEO of Draware A/S, a Denmark-based, SolarWinds’ reseller. “We selected it for our toolbox of preferred solutions over other solutions, such as Ipswitch’s WhatsUp Gold, because we felt ipMonitor had more advanced features at a lower price, making it an ideal solution for our SMB customers. From enhanced mapping to end-user experience monitoring to graphical dashboards, ipMonitor is in a league of its own.”