20 SolarWinds Interview Questions and Answers

SolarWinds is a software company that provides IT management and monitoring tools. With a wide range of products, SolarWinds is a popular choice for businesses of all sizes. If you are interviewing for a position that involves SolarWinds, you can expect to be asked questions about the company and its products. In this article, we review some of the most common SolarWinds interview questions and provide tips on how to answer them.

SolarWinds Interview Questions and Answers

Here are 20 commonly asked SolarWinds interview questions and answers to prepare you for your interview:

1. What is SolarWinds?

SolarWinds is a network management software company that was founded in 1999. The company provides a variety of software products for managing and monitoring networks, including the SolarWinds Orion platform.

2. Can you explain the architecture of SolarWinds?

SolarWinds is a distributed software system. The main components are the SolarWinds server, the SolarWinds database, and the SolarWinds agents. The SolarWinds server is responsible for collecting data from the SolarWinds agents and storing it in the SolarWinds database. The SolarWinds agents are responsible for collecting data from the devices on your network and sending it to the SolarWinds server.

3. How is SolarWinds licensed?

SolarWinds is licensed on a per-node basis. This means that you need to purchase a license for each node that you want to monitor.

4. What are some products offered by SolarWinds?

SolarWinds offers a variety of products, including network management software, application performance monitoring software, and database performance monitoring software.

5. What does Orion Platform mean in context with SolarWinds software?

The Orion Platform is the foundation of the SolarWinds software. It is a scalable and extensible platform that allows for the management of networks, systems, and applications.

6. What is SAM?

SAM is an acronym for Server & Application Monitor. It is a software application produced by SolarWinds that is designed to help system administrators monitor the health and performance of their server infrastructure.

7. Why do you think it’s important to use a monitoring tool like SolarWinds?

A monitoring tool like SolarWinds is important because it can help you keep track of what is happening on your network. It can give you visibility into potential problems so that you can address them before they cause major issues. Additionally, SolarWinds can help you track your network’s performance over time so that you can identify trends and make changes to improve its overall efficiency.

8. What’s the difference between NPM and APM?

NPM is a network performance monitoring tool, while APM is an application performance monitoring tool. NPM is used to monitor the performance of network devices and services, while APM is used to monitor the performance of applications.

9. How can you monitor network traffic using SolarWinds?

SolarWinds provides a number of tools for monitoring network traffic. The SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor, for example, can be used to monitor traffic in real time and identify potential bottlenecks. The SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer can be used to analyze historical traffic data in order to identify trends and potential problems.

10. What are the advantages of using SolarWinds over other systems management tools?

SolarWinds has a number of advantages over other systems management tools. First, it is designed specifically for managing Windows systems, so it is very user-friendly for Windows administrators. Additionally, SolarWinds includes a wide range of features and tools for managing both physical and virtual systems, making it a very versatile tool. Finally, SolarWinds is very affordable, especially when compared to other enterprise-level management tools.

11. What are the different types of alerts available on Solarwinds?

There are four types of alerts available on Solarwinds: node down, interface down, volume full, and node up.

12. How would you go about adding custom alerting thresholds for certain applications?

You can add custom alerting thresholds for certain applications by going to the SolarWinds website, logging in, and clicking on the “Alerts” tab. From there, you can click on the “Add Threshold” button and select the application for which you want to set the threshold.

13. Does SolarWinds support Windows, Linux, or Unix? If yes, then how?

SolarWinds does support Windows, Linux, and Unix. SolarWinds has an agent that can be installed on each type of system, and the agent will collect data and send it back to the SolarWinds server. SolarWinds also has a web-based interface that can be used to view data and manage settings for the system.

14. What are the various ways of installing and configuring SolarWinds?

SolarWinds can be installed in a few different ways, depending on your needs. You can install it on-premises, or you can use the SolarWinds cloud. You can also configure SolarWinds to work with a variety of different data sources, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

15. Can you explain what an account view is in context with SolarWinds?

An account view is a way of organizing and managing your SolarWinds account. It allows you to see all of the devices that are associated with your account, as well as their current status and any alerts that have been generated. You can also use the account view to perform various actions on your devices, such as adding or removing them from the account.

16. What is SolarWinds Engineer’s Toolkit?

SolarWinds Engineer’s Toolkit is a comprehensive set of tools designed for network engineers. It includes a wide range of tools for managing network devices, troubleshooting network issues, and monitoring network performance.

17. What are the main differences between using a standalone installation versus distributed deployment when deploying SolarWinds?

A standalone installation is typically used for small deployments or for testing purposes, while a distributed deployment is used for larger, production deployments. With a distributed deployment, you can have multiple SolarWinds servers spread out across a network, which can provide redundancy and improve performance.

18. What are some common issues you may face when working with SolarWinds?

Some common issues you may face when working with SolarWinds include:

– Inaccurate data collection
– Data loss
– High resource usage
– Slow performance
– Difficult to use interface

19. How do you migrate data from one instance of SolarWinds to another?

The process of migrating data from one instance of SolarWinds to another is relatively simple. First, you will need to export the data from the original instance using the SolarWinds Export Utility. Next, you will need to import the data into the new instance using the SolarWinds Import Utility. Finally, you will need to run the SolarWinds Configuration Wizard in order to complete the migration process.

20. Is there any way to change the SNMP community string on all devices at once in SolarWinds?

Yes, there is a way to change the SNMP community string on all devices at once in SolarWinds. You can do this by going to the “Settings” tab, and then selecting “All Settings”. From there, you will want to select the “Polling” tab, and then choose “SNMP Settings”. From there, you will be able to change the SNMP community string for all devices.