Planning and Executing Your Journey From the Orion Platform to SolarWinds Hybrid Cloud Observability

We believe observability is a game changer for IT professionals. Due to its native ability to deliver a centralized single source of truth, upgrading from the Orion® Platform to SolarWinds® Hybrid Cloud Observability provides the dual benefits of leveraging your existing IT service management assets while empowering your team to deliver better user experiences by meeting near-zero downtime objectives.

Engineered entirely in the SolarWinds next-generation build environment, Hybrid Cloud Observability extends your current oversight capabilities far beyond traditional monitoring. Designed for unlimited scalability, its centralized architecture is optimized to tame multi-cloud complexity, reduce telemetry data deluge, and make available end-to-end oversight of service delivery and component dependencies. Customers choosing to migrate from the Orion Platform and other SolarWinds monitoring solutions will benefit from a clear and well-supported path for moving into a state of observability. As stated in our routine customer notifications, SolarWinds intends to maintain full support for the Orion Platform and continue to issue patches and updates as needed.

We’ve made every effort to make your Orion Platform migration frictionless and seamless, from providing guidelines for inventorying your infrastructure management and monitoring solutions to assisting with your deployment of Hybrid Cloud Observability at a pace of your choosing.

We’re With You Every Step of the Way

This primer will provide you with an introduction to the benefits you can expect from Hybrid Cloud Observability and available upgrade and licensing options. Using our comprehensive Resource Toolkit, you’ll have access to a step-by-step process for migrating with the full support of our Customer Success team and guidance in reviewing the strategies best suited to meeting your expectations and achieving your objectives.

SolarWinds Hybrid Cloud Observability delivers a variety of benefits, including centralized control and oversight, automated machine learning intelligence, and closed-loop operational management and capacity planning. From its inception, the development and architecture of Hybrid Cloud Observability have been based on our legacy of two decades of leadership in the IT software sector and anchored by the real-world needs of our customers.

Many of our Orion Platform customers have had observability on their radar for some time and are already in full deployment, and others are running sandbox instances and conducting evaluations. When you’re ready to take your own deep dive into how observability can bring greater oversight and efficiencies to your hybrid environment, we invite you to explore the resources available and benefit from the expertise of our Customer Success team.

Let’s Whiteboard It

The following is a short list of recommended steps to prepare for the installation of Hybrid Cloud Observability while retaining all the functionality and oversight of your existing infrastructure. For detailed documentation, explore our Resource Toolkit on the Customer Success Center.

Getting Started: Installing the SolarWinds Platform

The software and hardware requirements for installing the SolarWinds Platform, the first step for deploying Hybrid Cloud Observability, vary depending on whether you intend to deploy on-premises or in the cloud and the size of the environment to be monitored. For a complete overview of requirements, click here.

Open the required ports. See a full list of the port requirements here.

Run all Microsoft Windows updates on all servers. This will avoid an unexpected update during installation, which may cause the system to reboot and prevent the installation from completing.

Task 1: Run the Hybrid Cloud Observability Installer

The next step is running the installer on the primary server you’ve dedicated to Hybrid Cloud Observability. The use of .NET 4.8 and other third-party software is required, which will be downloaded and installed if not detected on the server. During installation of the Standard Platform, under the SQL Server, you’ll choose standard installation. This is the configuration designed for a production environment.

For a lightweight installation, the use of SQL Server Express is activated. Note: this option is suitable for evaluation installations only. Instructions for this option are detailed here.

For instructions on how to complete the installation, refer to the steps detailed under the Task 1 subhead on the SolarWinds Platform and Orion Platform documentation page.

Task 2: Finish Up With the Configuration Wizard

In the Standard Installation, the Configuration Wizard opens automatically and provides a series of prompts. At this point, you’ll authenticate the SQL Server, which will enable you to complete database settings and create a database account.

Following the links provided in the above content is your first line of instructions to begin your installation, but support or necessary clarification is just a call or click away.