While SolarWinds does not offer a permanently free version of its core network monitoring software, there are several ways to access it without upfront cost: SolarWinds Platform requirements
: SQL Server 2016 SP1, 2017, or 2019. SQL Server Express is supported only for evaluations.
: SQL Express is only recommended for evaluations and has a 10 GB database limit. SolarWinds Product Review: SolarWinds NPM solarwinds npm 202026 system requirements free
Summary: This document gives a comprehensive, production-ready breakdown of system requirements, architecture options, sizing guidance, installation prerequisites, and optimization tips for SolarWinds NPM 2020.2.6 (on-premises). It assumes a typical enterprise deployment and provides concrete CPU, memory, storage, OS, SQL, network, and high-availability considerations plus configuration steps to improve performance and scalability.
For production, use Windows Server 2016 or 2019 for the best experience. While SolarWinds does not offer a permanently free
16 GB minimum, 32 GB or more recommended for larger environments.
For optimal performance, SolarWinds recommends the following: 16 GB minimum, 32 GB or more recommended
SolarWinds NPM scales its resource requirements based on deployment size. Deployments are measured by the total number of monitored elements, which include nodes, interfaces, and logical disk volumes. Environment Sizing Supported Elements Minimum CPU Recommended RAM Minimum Storage Up to 500 items 20 GB NTFS space Medium (SL2000) 501 – 2,000 items 40 GB NTFS space Large (SLX) 2,000+ items Dual Quad-Core 100 GB RAID 1+0