Server sizing recommendations

When planning the server for your SolarWinds Platform installation, consider the following variables that affect scalability. They are listed from the most important to the least important.

Number of monitored elements

An element is defined as a single, identifiable node, interface, or volume. A single polling engine can monitor up to 12,000 elements. Monitoring some node types, such as routers, place more load on the system.

Polling frequency

If you are collecting statistics every five minutes instead of the default nine minutes, the system will have to work harder and system requirements will increase.

Number of simultaneous users

The number of simultaneous users accessing SolarWinds Platform directly impacts system performance. We recommend limiting the number of simultaneous users to between 10 to 20 sessions per web site. You can install additional websites to handle larger user loads.

Main factors that limit the polling capacity

When planning your SolarWinds Platform deployment, consider the following factors:

• CPU
• Memory
• Number of polling engines
• Polling engine settings

See the SolarWinds Platform Optimization Guide for more hints how to optimize your deployment.

Use additional polling engines for 12,000 or more monitored elements

If you plan to monitor 12,000 or more elements, SolarWinds recommends that you install additional polling engines on separate servers to help distribute the work load.

For more information about sizing NPM to your network, view the Scalability Engine Guidelines for your product, contact the SolarWinds sales team, or visit www.solarwinds.com.

For minimum hardware recommendations, see SolarWinds Platform requirements.

For more information about polling engines, see Configure an Additional Polling Engine.