Difficult to Manage Nodes: NPM 10.1.2 Hobbled Console

I cant go on. If there's an option in the Settings that I missed to enable these, please forgive me. But I looked and I cannot find it. PLEASE HELP!!

The console GUI has been hobbled. Administrative tasks that took two clicks and 2 seconds now take a good 5 minutes. Gone are the options offered by right-clicking on devices, which yielded VERY USEFUL maintenance and upkeep tasks like rediscover resources, renaming, poll now. GONE. Seriously, did Solarwinds put this to a vote with the day-to-day Solarwinds grunts? You know, the ones that are constantly justifying to Management why we need this tool. IMO, a critical efficiency of Solarwinds has been TOTALLY BROKEN. Upgrading to 10.1.2 is an NPM Administrator's nightmare: forced to do everything through the dreadfully slow web interface. And no, its not IIS or some other web server problem. Dont come with that, we all know & accept the WEB-GUI is slow, that is OK for pretty pictures and for the users (non-Admins). We understand the back-end is doing a lot of work. But the functionality on the RDP phat-GUI/console was necessary for us admins to get things done fast and get the boss off our backs. Now even simple renaming devices takes EASILY 20-30 TIMES AS LONG!!! Im not exaggerating. Impossible to rename 30 devices on the web, thats an 8-hour task, man!! Whats up with that, why has this been done to us??

I EMPLORE YOU PLEASE TO PUT THE PHAT GUI TOOLS BACK. And if there's an option in the Settings that I missed to enable these, please forgive me. But I looked and I cannot find it. PLEASE HELP!!

PUT IT BACK: Console right-click Menu items!!!

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bshopp

Check out this blog post I wrote here. While not all users are fans of moving to the web console, many have become fans and others are very happy we are doing this. There were a lot of things you could not do in System Manager that you can do in the web console, like editing multiple devices at one.

Based on feedback from users we have been working on the use cases that are too complex and web performance. I don't agree with you acceptance that the web console is slow. There are things end users can do to tune performance like making sure inetpub directory is excluding from any real-time virus scanning, however, much is on us to enhance web performance and usability in web node management.

System Manager is going away, if you could outline further use cases which are difficult I will be sure to capture them so we can work on enhancing them.

Network_Guru

I've been a user for the old System Manager console for 8 years now, and I prefer the web console.
When the web node management first came out, it was painfully slow, but version 10 is quite usable.
I find it just as responsive as the System Manager, and it's easier and faster to use.

When I want to modify a node (or group of nodes) I can do it immediately.
No more logging onto the server with RDP and fighting for a free spot on the server.
You can modify multiple nodes and custom properties in one fell swoop now.

One thing I'd like to keep from the management tools however, is the Custom Property editor.
It shouldn't be too difficult to create a web based version of this, since it is just a direct look/edit of the DB.

Keep up the good work in NPM Brandon!

goofyzig

I dont know what you guys are smoking, but when a common task like renaming a device goes from 2 clicks 2 seconds on the phat-GUI/console to now require 5 clicks and minutes (and mintues) of waiting on the Web interface, there is ZERO COMPARISON. It doesnt matter what the IIS or AntiVirus or XYZ settings are. As soon as 2 seconds ticked away, the web interface LOST. The web admin would only be an improvement if it could rename a device faster, quicker than the console and under this simple rule it utterly and completely fails. What is so hard to understand about that?

The bottom line is that this brings out two camps of people: those that swear by HTTP/Web interfaces, and those that understand how unbeatable a dedicated phat GUI is. I am not an uber-programmer, but I know enough programming to know that web interfaces for complex applications are no substitute for a dedicated controlled phat-GUI or console. Even Solarwinds admits it: there's a reason why the MIB-Browser is a phatGUI only. There's a reason why NCM is phat GUI only (and yes, you can edit multiple nodes in NCM's console, surprise). I agree that a web interface works for simple stuff, and for the everyday users getting their graphs, stats, alerts, etc. That is okay. Even some admin tasks work okay there, Im not saying they dont. But the web interface is not a substitute to the administrators of thousands of objects and issues/problems who must do 101 tasks on a daily basis. The administrative tasks on NPM are deeply complex, and not all suited for the web management. The old right-click options on the console were TIME SAVERS. WE NEED THE CONSOLE's FAST RESPONSE TO KEEP SUPPORTING THE APPLICATION AND OUR USERS!!! Solarwinds should look at Checkpoint as an example of a company that never got rid of the phat GUI despite the pressure. Even other Solarwinds software itself is a demonstration of that, as I mentioned previously.

Web front-ends can set back a software application 10 years, that is common programming knowledge. Yes, some tasks can be done on the web, I dont disagree there, and it is an essential part for the everyday users, how the graphs get generated, published, reports output, etc. But adding management or administrative features should not equate to eliminating them from the phat GUI. If anything, Solarwinds should have ADDED editing multiple nodes on the phat GUI, should have ADDED all the great functions they did on the web should have been done on the phat GUI FIRST.

I dont know how most companies run, maybe they're flush with cash, but our company can't afford a dedicated Solarwinds admin, we need Network Engineers who use the tool called Solarwinds. Us engineers need a tool that is quick and responsive, and there is nothing like the phat GUI to get adminstrative things done. PLEASE HELP US ADMINISTER THE SOFTWARE FASTER AND PUT ALL THE FUNCTIONS BACK IN THE GUI, OR CREATE A NEW GUI FOR THOSE OF US WHO PREFER IT. Thank you.

MarieB

Hi goofyzig---

I'll make sure Brandon sees this.