Replace Template-Heavy Application Monitoring with Per-Second, Zero-Config Observability

Granularity
Default data collection frequency

✅ Per-Second
1-second resolution across all metrics

⚠️ 5-Minute Default
Configurable but higher overhead at scale

Visualization Latency
Time from event to dashboard

✅ 1-2 Seconds
Real-time visualization at any scale

⚠️ Minutes
Orion polling cycle adds delay

Setup Complexity
From install to troubleshooting

✅ Zero Configuration
Auto-discovery, automated dashboards, zero templates

⚠️ Template-Driven
AppInsight and template configuration required

Machine Learning
Anomaly detection coverage

✅ Every Metric
18 models per metric, trained at the edge, zero tuning

⚠️ Limited
Machine learning is not a core SAM capability

AI Troubleshooting
Root cause analysis and reporting

✅ AI Co-Engineer
Natural language RCA, blast radius, AI reports

❌ Not Available
No native AI troubleshooting or reporting

Scalability
How easily it grows with infrastructure

✅ Linear and Distributed
Each agent operates independently, no central bottleneck

⚠️ Centralized Orion
Scaling requires additional polling engines and licensing

Maintenance Burden
Ongoing operational overhead

✅ Self-Managing
WORM storage, no compaction, zero dashboard upkeep

⚠️ Significant
Template updates, Orion maintenance, polling engine tuning

Data Ownership
Where your observability data lives

✅ On Your Infrastructure
Data stays at the edge, Cloud is metadata-only

⚠️ Orion Database
Data centralized in SQL Server backend

Open Standards
OpenMetrics, OpenTelemetry, StatsD support

✅ Full Support
Ingest and export via open standards

⚠️ Proprietary
SolarWinds-centric data formats and APIs

Open Source Agent
Agent transparency and community

✅ GPLv3+ Licensed
77,000+ GitHub stars, 1.5M daily downloads

❌ Closed Source
Proprietary agent and platform

Cost Structure
Pricing philosophy and predictability

✅ Per-Node, All-Inclusive
Unlimited metrics, logs, users, ML, and AI included

⚠️ Tiered and Modular
Per-node plus add-on modules and feature tiers

Logs Management
Integrated log visibility

✅ Zero Pipeline
Direct systemd-journal and Windows Event Log access

⚠️ Separate Module
Requires SolarWinds Log Analyzer or similar

Operating System Monitoring
CPU, memory, storage, networking

✅ Ideal
Per-second, comprehensive, zero-config across all OS types

✅ Good
Solid coverage via templates at lower resolution

Enterprise Hardware Monitoring
GPUs, IPMI, sensors, ECC, PCIe

✅ Advanced
Native GPU, IPMI, NVMe, SMART, sensors at per-second

⚠️ Basic
Limited hardware depth beyond basic node stats

Process Monitoring
Per-process CPU, memory, I/O

✅ Ideal
Per-second per-process metrics with historical context

⚠️ Limited
Process monitoring via component templates

Container and Kubernetes
Docker, K8s, cgroups

✅ Ideal
Auto-discovered, per-second, per-container metrics

⚠️ Limited
Container monitoring often requires additional modules

Database Monitoring
Top queries, running queries, deadlocks

✅ Advanced
Top queries, deadlocks, error attribution for major databases

✅ Good
AppInsight for SQL Server with deep query analysis

Hypervisor Monitoring
KVM, Proxmox, Hyper-V, VMware

✅ Advanced
Per-second VM and host metrics via native collectors

⚠️ Basic
VMware monitoring requires separate SolarWinds VMAN module

Database Query Visibility
Live query diagnostics in browser

✅ Advanced
Top queries, running queries, deadlocks without SSH

✅ Good
AppInsight SQL provides query-level visibility

Network Connections
Per-process TCP/UDP visibility

✅ Advanced
Live per-process connection maps and topology

❌ Not Available
Not a native SAM capability

SNMP Device Monitoring
Switches, routers, network gear

✅ Advanced
Auto-discovery, 6,000+ MIBs, 800+ vendors, per-second

✅ Good
SNMP monitoring via NPM integration

Custom Application Metrics
StatsD, OpenMetrics, OpenTelemetry

✅ Ideal
Native ingest via open standards, unlimited custom metrics

⚠️ Basic
Custom counters via SAM templates with volume limits

Logs Management
Integrated log search and correlation

✅ Advanced
Zero-pipeline systemd-journal and Windows Event Log access

⚠️ Separate Module
Requires SolarWinds Log Analyzer add-on

Synthetic Checks
HTTP, TCP, DNS, ping probes

✅ Advanced
Built-in HTTP, TCP, DNS, ping collectors at per-second

✅ Good
Available but typically via SolarWinds WPM module

Real-Time Infrastructure Monitoring
Per-second server and application visibility

✅ Ideal
Purpose-built for per-second monitoring at scale

⚠️ Near Real-Time
5-minute polling cycles limit visibility

Live Troubleshooting
Replacing SSH for production debugging

✅ Ideal
Console replacement with history, ML, and per-second precision

⚠️ Limited
Not designed as a real-time debugging console

Database Query Monitoring
Top queries, running queries, deadlocks

✅ Advanced
13+ databases with top queries, deadlocks, error attribution

✅ Good
AppInsight for SQL Server provides deep query analysis

Capacity Planning
Long-term trends and forecasting

✅ Advanced
Multi-tier storage with AI-powered capacity reports

✅ Good
Historical trending and reporting capabilities

Application Performance Monitoring
Distributed tracing and code-level profiling

⚠️ Limited
No distributed tracing yet — planned for future release

⚠️ Limited
SAM focuses on component health, not code-level APM

Network Device Monitoring
SNMP switches, routers, firewalls

✅ Advanced
Auto-discovery, 6,000 MIBs, per-second, topology maps

✅ Good
Via SolarWinds NPM integration

Logs Management
Search, filter, correlate logs with metrics

✅ Advanced
Zero-pipeline systemd-journal and Windows Event Log access

⚠️ Separate Module
Requires SolarWinds Log Analyzer or Kiwi Syslog

Real User Monitoring
Browser-side performance tracking

❌ Not Available
Not a current Netdata capability

⚠️ Separate Module
Available via SolarWinds Pingdom integration