Using the Web interface, raised alerts can be viewed in a detailed list or a simple graphic that represents the server with number of alerts raised. Alerts also can be color-coded to signify the severity of the error. After setting the threshold for database growth of our Solarwinds server and the server memory, I quickly noticed that our instance of SQL server was using 100 percent of the memory available to it. When viewing the error, there are options to acknowledge, hide or add text and update the error for other administrators to view. For our error, HMS provided a definition of the error, performance statistics and even potential solutions to fix the problem on the server. This proves quite useful for administrators who might not be well versed in fixing potential disastrous problems with different software packages. Fixing our SQL server memory problem left our Solarwinds box running more efficiently, all because of HMS.
Reporting Features
Good
Ability to monitor numerous platforms
Solution Studio offers customized solutions fit for any computing situation
Bad
Management console's UI is difficult to navigate
eQ Management Suite; Heroix Corp Price: Heroix eQ is priced per managed node with base server monitoring starting at $595 per server. 800-229-6500, 617-527-1550 www.heroix.com
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HMS reporting features are very extensive and intuitive. The management console has three categories of reports designed for the organization's different IT roles--CIO, management and systems administrator. Each role has a different subset of reports pertinent to that job title available for viewing. For example, the CIO reports are high-level views of the entire system, such as free disk space of every machine, overall CPU usage and storage information. Whereas system administrators' reports are more technical in nature, covering such items as SQL Server 2000 CPU usage.
Reports can be exported to numerous formats, including HTML, CSV (comma separated), Crystal Reports, Excel, RTF, text or Word for Windows. I set several reports--free disk space and overall CPU utilization--from each of the three groups to be batch processed as HTML files and was impressed with the clarity and wealth of information provided. Reports can be batch processed hourly, monthly, nightly or in weekly time frames. The reports give you a lot of information. But if you're monitoring a lot of servers, the detailed reports can be very lengthy.