Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

RRDTool VS SolarWinds NPM

Compare RRDTool VS SolarWinds NPM and see what are their differences

RRDTool logo RRDTool

High performance data logging and graphing system for time series data

SolarWinds NPM logo SolarWinds NPM

Advanced network monitoring for on-premises, hybrid, and cloud. Download a FREE 30-day trial of SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) today!
  • RRDTool Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-30
  • SolarWinds NPM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-22

RRDTool features and specs

  • Efficient Data Storage
    RRDTool uses a round-robin database structure, which ensures a constant disk footprint by overwriting old data points, making it space efficient.
  • Time Series Data Visualization
    It provides robust graphing capabilities for time series data, making it useful for monitoring trends and patterns over time.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, RRDTool can be used and modified freely, offering flexibility and customization options to fit specific needs.
  • Built-in Aggregation
    RRDTool automatically consolidates data over time, reducing the need for manual computation and maintaining performance as data scales.
  • Broad Integration
    It is widely supported and can be integrated easily with other tools and systems, such as MRTG and Cacti, enhancing its functionality.

Possible disadvantages of RRDTool

  • Steep Learning Curve
    The tool can be difficult to learn for new users due to its complex command-line interface and diverse set of options.
  • Limited Data Flexibility
    Once a database is created, its size and structure are fixed, meaning changes require a new database setup and could result in data loss.
  • Requires Manual Setup
    There is no automatic data import or setup, requiring users to define configurations and scripts manually, which can be time-consuming.
  • Outdated Interfaces
    The graphical interfaces can appear outdated compared to more modern software, which may not meet current user interface expectations.
  • Performance Limitations
    RRDTool may face performance constraints when dealing with very high-frequency data updates, as it is optimized for a consistent update interval.

SolarWinds NPM features and specs

  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    SolarWinds NPM provides detailed insights into network performance by tracking metrics like bandwidth usage, latency, and packet loss. It supports a wide range of devices and vendors, making it versatile for varied network environments.
  • Customizable Dashboards and Alerts
    The platform offers highly customizable dashboards and alerting mechanisms, allowing users to tailor notifications and visualizations according to their specific needs.
  • Scalability
    SolarWinds NPM can scale to support large and complex network environments, making it suitable for both small businesses and large enterprises.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The software has an intuitive, web-based interface that makes it easy for users to navigate and utilize its features without requiring extensive training.
  • Robust Reporting
    SolarWinds NPM includes advanced reporting capabilities that help administrators analyze network trends, generate compliance reports, and present data to stakeholders.

Possible disadvantages of SolarWinds NPM

  • Cost
    The initial cost and ongoing maintenance fees for SolarWinds NPM can be significant, particularly for small businesses or non-profits with limited budgets.
  • Resource Intensive
    The software can be resource-intensive, requiring robust server infrastructure to operate efficiently, which may necessitate additional investments in hardware.
  • Complex Configuration
    Setting up and configuring SolarWinds NPM to fit specific network environments can be complex and time-consuming, often necessitating a steep learning curve or professional assistance.
  • High Volume of Alerts
    While customizable, the alert system can generate a high volume of notifications, which could lead to alert fatigue if not properly configured.
  • Limited Integration with Some Tools
    Although SolarWinds NPM integrates well with many systems, there are some third-party tools and platforms with which integration is less straightforward.

RRDTool videos

Cacti - The RRDTool-based graphing solution

More videos:

  • Review - Building Network Monitoring Systems with RRDtool

SolarWinds NPM videos

SolarWinds NPM: Your Complete Network Monitoring Solution

More videos:

  • Review - Overview of Quality of Experience Dashboard in SolarWinds NPM

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to RRDTool and SolarWinds NPM)
Monitoring Tools
10 10%
90% 90
Time Series Database
100 100%
0% 0
Log Management
8 8%
92% 92
Performance Monitoring
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare RRDTool and SolarWinds NPM

RRDTool Reviews

We have no reviews of RRDTool yet.
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SolarWinds NPM Reviews

The Best Cacti Monitoring Alternatives
The SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor is a paid tool, the best of the best. It’s a network monitoring solution to help you find, diagnose, and resolve network performance issues. The tool is mainly focused on maintaining the health of the devices within your network.
13 Best Nagios Alternatives for Networks, Servers, IT Systems Monitoring
Unlike Solarwinds NPM described above which is focused only on networking, checkmk can monitor a wide range of devices such as servers, network devices, applications etc.
Best Open Source Network Monitoring Tools and Software (Linux/Windows)
Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor is another Great monitoring tool that has a large community behind it and has updates almost every year.
15 Best IT Monitoring Tools and Software
SolarWinds NPM is SolarWinds’s network troubleshooter. NPM is easy to use, can be used across physical, cloud-based, or mixed businesses.
Source: blog.inedo.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, RRDTool seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 3 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

RRDTool mentions (3)

  • Seeing through hardware counters: a journey to threefold performance increase
    For anyone interested in how the graphs were made: https://oss.oetiker.ch/rrdtool/ Happy to see people still using RRD after all these years. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • One of the longest standing soundness holes in Rust -- Diving Deep: implied bounds and variance
    (I actually implemented the firmware for this... Using the Arduino port for ESP8266 because I was impatient, but discovered that either my DHT11 modules are junk or I'm misusing them, because the humidity measurement drifts as they keep running. I need to write the Rust+rrdtool app meant to receive the reports and then do some comparative tests between the DHT11 and some BME280s, and between the current firmware... Source: about 3 years ago
  • Arizona in October is solar bliss
    Nice! This is giving me some ideas. Here's what my old school rrdtool-based system looks like:. Source: over 3 years ago

SolarWinds NPM mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of SolarWinds NPM yet. Tracking of SolarWinds NPM recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing RRDTool and SolarWinds NPM, you can also consider the following products

TimescaleDB - TimescaleDB is a time-series SQL database providing fast analytics, scalability, with automated data management on a proven storage engine.

Zabbix - Track, record, alert and visualize performance and availability of IT resources

Spanning - Spanning provides data backup and recovery solutions for companies running cloud applications.

Datadog - See metrics from all of your apps, tools & services in one place with Datadog's cloud monitoring as a service solution. Try it for free.

MRTG - MRTG (or Multi Router Traffic Grapher) is an open-source network monitoring tool.

Dynatrace - Cloud-based quality testing, performance monitoring and analytics for mobile apps and websites. Get started with Keynote today!