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SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor VS Process Monitor

Compare SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor VS Process Monitor and see what are their differences

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor logo SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor provides deep visibility into health, availability and performance of enterprise applications and multi-vendor servers.

Process Monitor logo Process Monitor

Monitor file system, Registry, process, thread and DLL activity in real-time.
  • SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-05
  • Process Monitor Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor features and specs

  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) provides extensive monitoring capabilities for servers, virtual machines, and web applications, allowing for a holistic view of your infrastructure.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform features an intuitive dashboard and user interface, making it accessible for users with various levels of technical expertise.
  • Customization
    SAM allows for high levels of customization, enabling users to tailor monitoring and alerts to their specific needs and preferences.
  • Scalability
    The tool scales easily with growing business needs, supporting everything from small environments to large enterprise infrastructures.
  • Integration Capabilities
    SolarWinds SAM can integrate with other SolarWinds products as well as third-party tools, providing a more unified monitoring solution.

Possible disadvantages of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

  • Cost
    SolarWinds SAM is a high-end monitoring solution with a pricing structure that can be expensive, especially for small to mid-sized businesses.
  • Resource Intensive
    The solution can be resource-intensive, potentially requiring significant server resources to run effectively, which may impact overall system performance.
  • Complexity
    Despite its user-friendly interface, the depth and breadth of features may be overwhelming for novice users, requiring a steep learning curve.
  • Maintenance
    Regular maintenance and updates may be needed to keep the system running smoothly, requiring continuous attention from IT staff.
  • Alert Noise
    The default alerting system can produce a high volume of notifications, which may lead to 'alert fatigue' unless fine-tuned meticulously.

Process Monitor features and specs

  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    Process Monitor provides detailed real-time data on process, file system, registry, and network activity. This allows for in-depth analysis and troubleshooting.
  • Advanced Filtering
    Users can apply complex filters to focus on specific events or processes, which helps in pinpointing issues more efficiently.
  • Event Highlighting
    The tool supports highlighting rules that can be used to visually differentiate events of interest, making it easier to identify key activities.
  • Boot Time Logging
    It can be configured to record events during the boot process, which is invaluable for diagnosing startup issues.
  • Integration with other Sysinternals Tools
    Seamless integration with other Sysinternals tools allows for a more comprehensive diagnostic toolkit.

Possible disadvantages of Process Monitor

  • Resource Intensive
    Process Monitor can consume significant system resources, especially when monitoring extensive activities, which might affect system performance.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its wide range of features and the detailed information it provides, new users might find it challenging to navigate and use effectively.
  • Overwhelming Data
    The volume of data generated can be overwhelming, making it difficult to isolate relevant information without proper filtering.
  • No Native Support for Non-Windows Systems
    As a tool originally designed for Windows, it does not support non-Windows operating systems natively.
  • Potential for Information Overload
    The granular level of detail provided can lead to information overload, particularly for users unfamiliar with interpreting the data.

Analysis of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

Overall verdict

  • SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor is considered a good tool for monitoring servers and applications, particularly in IT environments where comprehensive performance tracking and immediate alerting are crucial.

Why this product is good

  • It provides extensive features like real-time monitoring, customizable alerts, and detailed performance metrics. The tool is known for its easy-to-use interface, broad compatibility with different systems, and robust community support. Additionally, SolarWinds offers a rich set of analytics and reporting tools which can help in proactive issue resolution and resource optimization.

Recommended for

    Organizations looking for reliable, scalable monitoring solutions, IT departments handling large or complex infrastructures, Managed Service Providers (MSPs), and businesses aiming to increase operational efficiency through proactive monitoring and alerts.

Analysis of Process Monitor

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Process Monitor is a highly effective tool for those needing deep system-level diagnostics. Its robust feature set and real-time monitoring capabilities make it indispensable for complex troubleshooting tasks.

Why this product is good

  • Process Monitor is widely regarded as a valuable tool for system administrators and developers due to its ability to provide detailed insights into file system, registry, and process/thread activity in real-time. It helps in diagnosing system problems and comprehensively troubleshooting issues. Its ability to filter output and capture intricate details makes it powerful for advanced users who need to understand interactions within the Windows OS.

Recommended for

  • System Administrators
  • Software Developers
  • IT Support Specialists
  • Security Analysts
  • Anyone needing to diagnose complex system or software-level issues on Windows.

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor videos

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Process Monitor videos

Process Monitor, powerful tool to troubleshoot applications and Windows.

More videos:

  • Review - Process Monitor: Basic Operation
  • Review - Malware Analysis - Tools - Process Monitor Basic

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor and Process Monitor)
Monitoring Tools
29 29%
71% 71
Log Management
100 100%
0% 0
Command Line Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Performance Monitoring
22 22%
78% 78

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor and Process Monitor

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor Reviews

HWMonitor Review & Alternatives for 2023
HWMonitor is a versatile tool in its own right but if you’re looking for something different or more modern, SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor, Paessler PRTG Network Monitor, and HWiNFO stand in as great alternatives. If you have the budget then SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor offers a full-featured hardware monitoring experience that is easy to configure.
Active Directory Monitoring Tools & Software for Enterprise AD Management!
As a long-time user of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM), I can vouch for its efficacy with monitoring Active Directory environments. This is not necessarily your one-stop-shop for Active Directory monitoring, but in many cases you’d be surprised with the robust capabilities.
15 Best IT Monitoring Tools and Software
SolarWinds SAM is functional for both Windows and Linux and can monitor applications and servers both on-prem and in the cloud.
Source: blog.inedo.com

Process Monitor Reviews

We have no reviews of Process Monitor yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Process Monitor seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 184 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.

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor yet. Tracking of SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Process Monitor mentions (184)

  • TaskExplorer
    Don't agree. It's just as complex (may be a bit more) as ProcessMonitor by Sysinternals https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Why did Windows 95 setup use three operating systems?
    Https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon Windows does a tonne of things in the background, yes. If I run that and let it monitor everything, things will happen even if I do nothing. It is an OS and complex. >It is shown instantly, fully rendered, in the next video frame. There is no delay THIS is true and also crazy to me. I forgot how fast XP was. Especially on modern hardware. I... - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • DLLs in Rust🦀
    To be sure that our exe is actually looking for the DLL, fire up the SysInternals' Process Monitor. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • can't get PTAT to run on RPL-U i7-1365URE eval board
    Don't know what PTAT stands for, but whenever I have issues with windows software running properly I pull out Process Monitor to log what that program was doing at the time of the error message. Sometimes there is a clue such as not being able to find a particular file, or registry key, or something else crashing etc. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Software developer looking to experiment with SCCM
    This might be a bit advanced but if it was me I would probably get frustrated and use SysInternals specifically procmon Https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon. Source: almost 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor and Process Monitor, you can also consider the following products

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

Process Explorer - The top window always shows a list of the currently active processes, including the names of their owning accounts, whereas the information displayed in the bottom window depends on the mode that Process Explorer is in: if it is in handle mode you'l…

Microsoft System Center - Microsoft System Center provides solutions to simplify the deployment, configuration, management, and monitoring of the infrastructure.

htop - htop - an interactive process viewer for Unix. This is htop, an interactive process viewer for Unix systems. It is a text-mode application (for console or X terminals) and requires ncurses. Latest release: htop 2.

Splunk Enterprise - Splunk Enteprise is the fastest way to aggregate, analyze and get answers from your machine data with the help machine learning and real-time visibility.

Windows Task Manager - Need assistance with your Microsoft product? Find helpful articles for Windows, Office, Microsoft Account, Microsoft Store, Xbox, and more.