SolarWinds 2020.2 Upgrade Resources

At SolarWinds, our desire is to have our customers on the latest release of all our software products. Being on the latest release allows you to take advantage of the most recent security updates, bug fixes, and performance improvements—as well as benefitting from the latest product features.

With the 2020.2 release, we’ve optimized our upgrade process, making it easier for you to upgrade to the latest, fastest, and most scalable version of our software yet! With new programs, we’re committed to enabling you on your upgrade journey.

New Features and Enhancements

• Greater Scalability: up to 1,000,000 elements per Orion Platform instance and up to 40K Server & Application Monitor (SAM) components per polling engine (550K SAM components per installation!)
• Improved Web Console login experience, with up to 96% faster load times to the login page*
• New Upgrade Options: the ability to pre-stage, upgrade planning reports, and Temporary License key options to support customer migrations

• Feature Updates: including Orion Maps Time Travel, third-party language packs, Azure monitoring and stack integration, and Time Series Support for Interfaces

* 96% faster loading of the login page from NPM v.2019.4, as verified in SolarWinds lab. Actual improvement may vary. 

Benefits of Upgrading

• Better Performance: Performance is always top of our customers’ minds, and we’re committed to improving the performance of our products across every release. For 2020.2, we’re focusing on SolarWinds Web Console performance and upgrades to both Network Performance Monitor (NPM) and SAM to enable greater scalability for enterprise-class environments.
• Greater Security & Stability: Our latest 2020.2 release addresses 16 vulnerabilities and 31 documented bug fixes.
• New Features: New dashboards, Azure monitoring, built-in MIB Database Management through the Web Console, Time Travel with Orion Maps, and many, many more.
• Optimized for our latest technologies: The newer SolarWinds products are optimized for the latest version of the Orion Platform. Enhanced Cortex functionality and Log Analyzer performance are all optimized for our latest product releases. Upgrading to the latest release allows you to realize these gains through more efficient functionality, building on Microsoft SQL Server enhancements.
• Improved Upgrade Experience: New Staged Upgrades feature has resulted in some customers upgrading in as little as 36 minutes (from 2019.4), down from 3.5 hours for their previous upgrade.

Upgrade Items to Consider

• What version are you looking to upgrade from/to?
• Is the your environment more suited to an upgrade or a migration?
• Have you upgraded the product before and aware of the pre-flight checks that you can run to increase your chances of success?
• Are you aware of our Upgrade Resource Page?

Upgrade Posts on THWACK

• A Timeline of NPM—Network Performance Monitor: From Version 10.5 to 2020.2
• Let's Talk About Why Upgrading Is So Important
• Upgrade Empathy: NPM 2020.2 also comes with additional deployment options for Microsoft SQL Server Express, SQL Server 2012, and Windows 2012
• My Upgrade to Orion 2020.2: A Customer Perspective
• The Easiest Upgrade in Years
• A customer discussion on their upgrade experience to 2020.2 - SPOILER ALERT: Upgraded in less than 1 hour : )  

Upgrade Tooling

New Upgrade Resource Center

The new Upgrade Resource Center provides you with the resources you need—regardless of your experience level—and enables you to find the planning and educational help necessary to ensure a successful upgrade.

Product Upgrade Advisor

To help kickstart your upgrade, visit the Product Upgrade Advisor in your Customer Portal for a step-by-step upgrade path.

Resource Toolkit

Use the toolkit to kickstart your upgrade plan and help prepare for your NPM upgrade—Resource Toolkit.

SmartStart Assisted Upgrades

Need a hand with your upgrade, or just want someone with you who’s done it many times before? The SmartStart Assisted Upgrade program provides you with expert guidance to help you before, during, and after your upgrade