NPM 11, 11.5, or 12? Help us with an upgrade path!

From what I heard the 12 beta became 11.5.  I'd go ahead and update to 11.0.1 as 11.5 hasn't hit RC yet and there are some good features and improvement in 11.0.1 that are worth the upgrade.  From there, once 11.5 is released you could plan out an upgrade there.  I've been testing the beta and there are also some good features here that I've been seeing.  I wouldn't wait until 12 though as that seems even further out.

Assuming you only have NPM (No other modules installed) 

Network Performance Monitor (NPM) - https://thwack.solarwinds.com/docs/DOC-1108

Upgrade NPM 10.7 --> 11.0.1

_ http://downloads.solarwinds.com/solarwinds/Release/OrionNPM/SolarWinds-NPM-v11.0.1-Full.zip

_ http://downloads.solarwinds.com/solarwinds/Release/HotFix/NPM-v11.0.1-HotFix1.zip

_ http://downloads.solarwinds.com/solarwinds/Release/HotFix/NPM-v11.0.1-HotFix2-FB359157-QoE_Agent_ManualDeploy.zip

_ http://downloads.solarwinds.com/solarwinds/Release/HotFix/NPM-v11.0.1-HotFix4.zip

_ http://downloads.solarwinds.com/solarwinds/Release/HotFix/NPM-v11.0.1-HotFix5.zip

_ http://downloads.solarwinds.com/solarwinds/Release/HotFix/NPM-v11.0.1-HotFix6.zip

_ http://downloads.solarwinds.com/solarwinds/Release/HotFix/NPM-v11.0.1-HotFix7.zip

_ http://downloads.solarwinds.com/solarwinds/Release/HotFix/NPM-v11.0.1-HotFix8.zip

The HotFix3 is for Japanese language (do not apply)

For your ADDITIONAL Poller (if you have one of those)

_ http://downloads.solarwinds.com/solarwinds/Release/OrionNPM/SolarWinds-NPM-v11.0.1-Poller.zip

Recomendations:

Please exclude the following from AntiVirus software:

“C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Crypto” folder.

“C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Crypto” folder.

"C:\Windows\Temp"

“C:\ProgramData\SolarWinds"

SQL database

http://www.solarwinds.com/documentation/Orion/docs/Orionperformance.pdf

Performance Metrics for SQL Server 2014 - http://thomaslarock.com/2014/06/performance-metrics-for-sql-server-2014/

Upgrading to SQL Server 2014 - http://thomaslarock.com/2014/06/upgrading-to-sql-server-2014-a-dozen-things-to-check/

SQL Server Monitor with SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) - http://www.solarwinds.com/solutions/sql-server-monitor.aspx

SQL Server Performance: AppInsight for SQL  - https://thwack.solarwinds.com/docs/DOC-173740

Windows 2012, SQL 2012, SQL 2014 and SolarWinds products - https://thwack.solarwinds.com/community/solarwinds-community/product-blog/blog/2013/12/11/windows-2012-and-sql-2012-and-solarwinds-products

Other: https://thwack.solarwinds.com/community/video

++ Basically we would like to see your SQL database on a RAID 1 for better IO performance ++ The better your SQL performs the better the overall Orion products will do.

Please see the link below for SQL File Segregation

Separating the data files from the log files in storage can boost performance significantly. The SolarWinds Orion database consists of data files with .mdf or .ndf file extensions, and log files with an .ldf extension. These files exist for the main database and for the temporary (temp) database SQL uses for moving data

File Segregation --> http://www.solarwinds.com/documentation/Orion/docs/OriondbBestPractices.pdf

Wow, you just saved me a lot of typing for my project plan. Thank you! My question was moreso trying to understand what versions upgrade to what and what the difference between 11, 11.5 and 12 are. We will be moving to 11 for now, but I wish SW would post a nice formal upgrade path.

"11.5" hasn't technically been released yet, it only became released as RC today.

There are a lot of features involved, I'd look at the summary in this thread:  NPM 11.5RC

A lot of things in NPM 11.5 are a long time coming (web based alert management, mandatory custom properties), so if/when it is stable enough for your company I would pretty strongly advise it. Updating for solarwinds products when you're paying for support isn't like planning on windows server updates.