SolarWinds NPM

Overview

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) is a network monitoring product developed by SolarWinds, aimed at enterprise IT operations teams responsible for maintaining the performance and availability of network infrastructure. NPM is part of the broader SolarWinds Orion platform, which provides a shared framework for multiple SolarWinds monitoring products, allowing NPM to be deployed alongside other Orion-based modules for a more consolidated monitoring environment.

The product focuses on giving network administrators a detailed, ongoing view of device and link performance, combined with tools for visualizing network topology and diagnosing the specific path that traffic takes between endpoints.

Key capabilities

NPM uses SNMP-based monitoring to collect performance and availability data from routers, switches, and other network devices, tracking metrics such as interface utilization, errors, and device health over time. Network topology mapping presents discovered devices and their interconnections visually, helping administrators understand the structure of their network and identify where problems may originate.

A notable feature is NetPath, which performs hop-by-hop path analysis to trace the route network traffic takes across on-premises infrastructure, cloud services, and the internet, highlighting where latency or packet loss occurs along that path. NPM also includes intelligent alerting, which allows alert conditions to be defined with dependencies and thresholds to reduce noise from cascading failures, along with dashboards for visualizing current network status and historical performance trends. As part of the Orion platform, NPM can share data and a common interface with other Orion modules an organization may also deploy.

Typical use cases

SolarWinds NPM is typically deployed by network operations teams in mid-sized to large enterprises that need continuous, detailed monitoring of complex network infrastructure. Common use cases include diagnosing performance degradation across multi-hop network paths using NetPath, maintaining topology maps for documentation and troubleshooting purposes, and configuring dependency-aware alerting to avoid alert storms during larger outages. Organizations already using other Orion platform modules, such as those for server or application monitoring, may choose NPM specifically to consolidate network monitoring within the same platform.

Licensing and pricing

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor is commercial software licensed by SolarWinds. Licensing is based on the number of monitored elements or nodes, with cost scaling according to the size of the monitored environment. A free trial is available for organizations that want to evaluate NPM before purchasing a license. Because SolarWinds’ licensing tiers and node-based pricing structures are subject to change, current pricing details should be obtained directly from SolarWinds’ official website rather than assumed from general descriptions.

Platform support

SolarWinds NPM is designed to run on Windows Server. As part of the Orion platform, it shares infrastructure requirements with other Orion-based SolarWinds products, and organizations deploying NPM should consult SolarWinds’ documentation for detailed server sizing and environment requirements based on the scale of the network being monitored.

Getting started

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor is obtained directly from SolarWinds’ official website; this catalog does not host installers or distribute the software. Organizations interested in evaluating NPM can request a free trial from the vendor’s site, then follow SolarWinds’ installation and configuration documentation to deploy it on a Windows Server environment. Current system requirements, licensing tiers, and trial terms are maintained by SolarWinds and should be reviewed on the official product page before deployment.

SolarWinds and Orion are trademarks of SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. This catalog entry is an independent, informational overview and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with SolarWinds. Visit the official site at https://www.solarwinds.com for authoritative product details.

Where to download

Downloads are hosted by SolarWinds on their official website. The button below opens that site — we never host installers.