Solarwinds Npm 202026 System Requirements Free 2021 Jun 2026
NPM 2020.2.6 stores all metrics (CPU, bandwidth, uptime) in SQL. You have two options:
If you need to monitor more than 10,000–15,000 elements, consider adding Additional Polling Engines (APEs). 5. Summary Table Minimum Requirement Recommended CPU Cores (High Speed) RAM 32 GB - 64 GB Storage 100 GB (HDD) >500 GB (SSD/NVMe) OS Windows Server 2016 Windows Server 2019+ SQL SQL 2016 SP1 SQL 2019 (Separate Server)
While the commercial license for NPM is expensive (typically thousands of dollars), you can legally run version 2020.2.6 for free in three scenarios: solarwinds npm 202026 system requirements free
| Metric | Limit | |--------|-------| | | Up to 50,000 interfaces / 10,000 nodes | | Polling interval | 1 minute minimum | | Data retention | Configurable (default 7 days detailed, 1 year hourly) |
The keyword most commonly refers to the legacy version 2020.2.6 of SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM). This specific version is notable because it introduced a temporary license key option that allowed active maintenance customers to upgrade using a free temporary license key , enabling them to set up a new 2020.2 deployment and migrate data without compromising their existing environment. NPM 2020
Windows 11 or Windows 10 (Pro or Enterprise). Database: Microsoft SQL Server 2025, 2022, 2019, or 2017.
If you are looking to download and install this version, make sure to check the SolarWinds Success Center for the most up-to-date prerequisites. Database: Microsoft SQL Server 2025, 2022, 2019, or 2017
The free version of SolarWinds NPM has some limitations:
| Pitfall | Solution | | :--- | :--- | | | SolarWinds does not support dynamic disks or storage spaces in some configs. Use basic GPT disks. | | Clock drift | NPM requires NTP sync. More than 5 minutes drift breaks database logging. | | IPv6 disabled | Many polling engines fail if IPv6 is completely disabled (set to "Prefer IPv4" instead). | | Antivirus real-time scanning | Exclude C:\Program Files\SolarWinds , C:\inetpub , and SQL data folders from AV. | | Windows update pending | A pending reboot will cause the installer to fail silently. |
