Feature Comparison
NI-System v7.0 vs SolarWinds
A detailed, function-by-function comparison between NI-System v7.0 and SolarWinds across three core modules: NPM (Network Performance Monitor), NTA (NetFlow Traffic Analyzer), and SAM (Server & Application Monitor). NI-System v7.0 not only covers equivalent capabilities but extends them with runtime dependency mapping, cross-layer correlation, and unified ITSM process integration.
Total Items
23
NPM
9
NTA
2
SAM
12
| SolarWinds Function | Description | NI-System v7.0 Module | Status | Functional Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NPMNetwork Performance Monitor | ||||
|
Network Discovery
Network Discovery
|
Automatically discovers network devices and their connectivity relationships, providing a visual foundation for understanding the network environment. | Dynamic Asset Discovery / Dynamic CMDB | Corresponds to and extends: NI-System not only discovers network devices, but also identifies servers, TCP services, processes, business systems, and their runtime dependencies. | |
|
Node Monitoring
Network Monitoring
|
Monitors node availability, response time, packet loss, and performance metrics. | Network Device Monitoring | Corresponds: Provides monitoring of network device and node operational status. | |
|
Interface Monitoring
Network Monitoring
|
Monitors interface traffic, errors, discards, utilization, and related performance metrics. | Network Interface Monitoring | Corresponds: Provides monitoring of network interface operational status and traffic. | |
|
Multi-vendor Network Monitoring
Network Monitoring
|
Supports the monitoring of routers, switches, firewalls, and other network devices from multiple vendors. | Multi-vendor Network Device Monitoring | Corresponds: Provides unified monitoring of multi-vendor network devices. | |
|
Packet Loss Monitoring
Network Performance
|
Monitors packet loss to assess network quality and identify connectivity issues. | Network Quality Monitoring | Corresponds: Monitors network packet loss, optical power, and connectivity. | |
|
Response Time Monitoring
Network Performance
|
Monitors the response time of network nodes and services to identify increased latency and potential performance issues. | Network Node Response Time Monitoring | Corresponds to and extends: Provides monitoring of NQA response time for network nodes. | |
|
Network Topology
Topology
|
Provides topology views of network devices and their connectivity relationships. | Dynamic Runtime Topology | Corresponds to and extends: NI-System describes not only network device connectivity, but also the complete runtime relationships among TCP services → processes → servers → network → infrastructure resources. | |
|
Intelligent Maps
Visualization
|
Visualizes network devices and their relationships through maps and views that can be dynamically updated as the network environment changes. | Runtime Relationship View / Dynamic Topology | Corresponds: Provides map- and view-based visualization of network devices and their relationships. | |
|
PerfStack
Performance Analysis
|
Correlates performance metrics from different monitored objects along a common timeline. | Multi-dimensional Performance Correlation Analysis | Corresponds to and enhances: Correlates endpoint experience, TCP, process, OS, database, storage, and network data along a common timeline to support fault localization. | |
|
Capacity Forecasting
Capacity
|
Analyzes historical performance data to forecast resource utilization trends and future capacity requirements. | Capacity Trend and Risk Analysis | Corresponds: Provides trend analysis and capacity risk identification for servers, networks, storage, and other resources. | |
|
Advanced Alerts
Alerts
|
Creates alert rules based on monitored metrics, thresholds, and conditions, and generates alerts when abnormal conditions are detected. | Monitoring and Alerting | Corresponds: Provides monitoring and alerting for devices, resources, services, processes, and business-related conditions. | |
| NTANetFlow Traffic Analyzer | ||||
|
NetFlow Monitoring
Traffic Analysis
|
Collects and analyzes NetFlow and related flow data to identify traffic sources, destinations, and distribution patterns. | Traffic Analysis | Corresponds: Provides traffic collection and analysis through sFlow, including traffic sources, destinations, and distribution patterns. | |
|
Top Talkers
Traffic Analysis
|
Identifies the sources, destinations, or conversations generating the highest volumes of traffic. | Top Traffic Analysis | Corresponds: Identifies high-traffic sources, destinations, and communication relationships. | |
| SAMServer & Application Monitor | ||||
|
Server Monitoring
Server Monitoring
|
Monitors the operational status and performance of servers, including operating system resources and overall server health. | Server Monitoring | Corresponds: Provides unified monitoring of Linux and Windows servers. | |
|
Hardware Health Monitoring
Hardware Monitoring
|
Monitors server hardware health to identify abnormal conditions or failures in physical hardware components. | Physical Server Monitoring | Corresponds: Monitors physical server health, including disk, fan, power supply, CPU, and memory module status. | |
|
Process Monitor
Process Monitoring
|
Monitors the operational status and resource utilization of specified processes to identify stopped or abnormal processes. | Process-level Monitoring | Corresponds: Monitors Linux and Windows server processes, including CPU utilization, memory utilization, and thread count. | |
|
Service Monitor
Service Monitoring
|
Monitors the operational status of services to identify stopped or abnormal services. | Service Monitoring | Corresponds: Monitors service status and abnormal conditions. | |
|
Port Monitoring
Service Monitoring
|
Monitors the availability and listening status of specified TCP or UDP ports. | Service Monitoring | Corresponds: Automatically discovers communication relationships and monitors server ports, connection counts, and status. | |
|
Application Discovery
Application Monitoring
|
Discovers applications within the environment and enables subsequent monitoring. | Application Asset Discovery | Corresponds: Automatically discovers Web services, middleware, and databases, and combines Dynamic CMDB and runtime relationships for asset and service identification. | |
|
AppInsight for IIS
Application Monitoring
|
Provides in-depth monitoring and performance visibility for Microsoft IIS web servers. | Web Server Monitoring | Corresponds: Provides monitoring of IIS. | |
|
Nginx Monitoring
Application Monitoring
|
Monitors the operational status and related performance data of Nginx web servers. | Nginx Monitoring | Corresponds: Monitors Nginx URL, connection, request, and Web/API performance status. | |
|
Apache Tomcat Monitoring
Application Monitoring
|
Monitors Apache Tomcat application servers and their operational status and performance. | Tomcat Monitoring | Corresponds: Monitors Tomcat URL availability and response time, class loading, memory, threads, connections, and Tomcat thread pool metrics. | |
|
WebSphere Monitoring
Application Monitoring
|
Monitors the operational status and performance of IBM WebSphere application servers. | WebSphere Monitoring | Corresponds: Monitors WebSphere JVM metrics, including class loading, garbage collection, memory, memory pools, and threads. | |
|
WebLogic Monitoring
Application Monitoring
|
Monitors the operational status and performance of Oracle WebLogic application servers. | WebLogic Monitoring | Corresponds: Monitors WebLogic connections, transaction processing, JVM memory, and persistent storage status. | |
|
Application Dependency Mapping
Application Monitoring
|
Maps relationships between applications and the servers and other infrastructure components that support them. | Application Dependency Mapping | Corresponds with differentiation: In addition to basic dependency relationships, NI-System emphasizes runtime port, process, and TCP call relationships. | |
|
Application Visualization
Application Monitoring
|
Provides a visual representation of applications and the status of their related infrastructure components. | Application Stack Visualization | Corresponds: Uses CMDB and runtime relationships to present the relationships among business systems, servers, ports, and processes. | |
|
PerfStack
Performance Analysis
|
Correlates historical performance data from different monitored objects along a common timeline to support troubleshooting. | Multi-layer Runtime Data Correlation Analysis | Corresponds: Provides cross-layer diagnostic correlation across endpoints, networks, ports, processes, and servers. | |
|
Application Alerts
Alerting
|
Generates alerts when application status or performance meets configured conditions. | Application and Server Anomaly Monitoring | Corresponds: Provides alerts through SMS, email, audio notifications, and social/collaboration platforms. | |
Key Differentiators of NI-System v7.0
Runtime Dependency Mapping
Beyond static device connectivity, NI-System maps live TCP call relationships, process-level dependencies, and business system invocation chains — giving you the full picture of what actually depends on what at runtime.
Cross-Layer Correlation
Correlate endpoint experience, network, port, process, OS, database, and storage data along a common timeline. When a fault occurs, pinpoint the root layer in seconds rather than toggling between tools.
Unified ITSM Process
Monitoring is just the start. NI-System v7.0 integrates incident, problem, change, service request, and configuration management into one platform — closing the loop from detection to resolution without data silos.
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