SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted is the self-hosted edition of SolarWinds’ observability platform, the successor to the product previously sold as Hybrid Cloud Observability[1] and built on the SolarWinds Platform (Orion). Its documentation describes “simple, node-based licensing” in three tiers, Essentials, Advanced and Premier, where the tier determines both the number of monitored nodes and the available features.[2] Licences are multi-year contracts billed annually, and when the subscription expires the product stops polling new data.[2] The pricing page describes the model as node-based, subscription only and billed annually, and says the platform can run on premises or in customer-managed Azure, AWS or Google Cloud instances.[3] Several capabilities in the tiers are also sold separately as Orion modules with their own metrics, which are described in SolarWinds Platform module licensing.[2]
Editions
Tiers
| Tier | Capabilities added (vendor wording, condensed) |
|---|---|
| Essentials | Network performance monitoring (NPM), server and application management (SAM), log monitoring and analysis, IP address management (IPAM), user and device tracking (UDT), VoIP and network quality (VNQM), node-based licensing and Platform Connect |
| Advanced | ML-powered anomaly-based alerting, security vulnerability dashboard, flow monitoring (NTA), network configuration management (NCM), virtualization monitoring (VMAN), server configuration management (SCM), and integration with Security Event Manager and Access Rights Manager, which need their own licences |
| Premier | Storage resource management (SRM), web performance monitoring (WPM), Incident Response user licences, a SolarWinds Observability SaaS Network & Infrastructure licence, value-based licensing and overages |
The table follows the pricing page and the licensing model page.[3][2] The SEM and ARM integrations require the corresponding SEM or ARM licence to be bought separately.[2] Features released as a technology preview, such as the SW1 AI agent, are included in all subscription levels while in preview, but a different tier or additional charges may be required once they become generally available.[2]
The Premier tier’s SolarWinds Observability SaaS Network & Infrastructure entitlement gives access to network, infrastructure and cloud monitoring in the SaaS product, to which the DEM or APM modules can be added.[3] Platform Connect, which links the self-hosted and SaaS products for features such as anomaly-based alerting and the SW1 agent, is opt-in and controlled by the administrator.[3]
Standard and Enterprise editions
Every tier is available as a Standard or an Enterprise edition. Standard licences include additional web servers and allow High Availability to be bought as an add-on; customers who need Additional Polling Engines must buy an Enterprise licence.[2] Enterprise licences are available for deployments of 500 or more nodes and are the only option above 1,500 nodes (rule, program).[2] They include lab licences, Additional Polling Engines, additional web servers, High Availability, the Enterprise Operations Console and Advanced Support.[2][3]
Metrics
The single commercial metric is the Node (SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted). Scale-out components that the module model licenses separately, the Additional Polling Engine and the High Availability pool, are included in the Enterprise edition or, for HA in the Standard edition, bought as an add-on.[2] The platform still records HA pools and polling engines in its License Manager.[4]
Counting / floors
What counts as a node
ICMP nodes monitored for availability only (ping) do not consume a licence. Enabling any further monitoring on a node, such as application monitors, NCM profiles, interfaces or other services, makes it count against the licensed total (rule).[2] Commentary: the NPM module counts nodes, interfaces and volumes as separate elements, whereas the observability documentation names only the node as the unit and treats monitored interfaces as a reason for the node to count, not as separate units.[5][2]
Value-based licensing (Premier)
In the Premier tier, value-based licensing lets smaller or cloud-based resources such as VMs, managed databases or services use a fraction of a node licence.[2] The pricing page states the ratios: containers and wireless access points are consumed at 10:1; on-premises VMs and cloud entities at 3:1; network devices, servers and hosts, orchestrators and wireless controllers, the WPM Player and storage arrays at 1:1; and ICMP-only nodes are free (rule, program).[3] Commentary: under these ratios 300 on-premises VMs monitored directly consume the equivalent of 100 nodes in Premier, while in Essentials and Advanced each directly monitored VM is a full node, which can change the cheapest tier for virtualised estates.
Overages (Premier)
Premier overages provide capacity above the base licence without interrupting monitoring. They add 25% of the current licence or up to 500 nodes, whichever limit is reached first (rule, program).[2] They require a Premier licence, participation in the SolarWinds Improvement Program (SWIP) and outbound connectivity from the main polling engine to send usage data.[2] SWIP is enabled by default in most evaluation installs, is set in the Swip.Settings section of the advanced configuration, and once enabled sends usage, performance and licensing data to SolarWinds; overage usage is then tracked in the License Manager (program).[6] Commentary: the documentation reviewed does not state how overage usage is priced or trued up; that is a matter for the Order.
Flexible licensing across servers
The EULA default is one licence key per Device.[7] The observability licence is documented as an exception: with flexible licensing it works as a pool of nodes that can be activated wholly on one server or partly on several, so a separate licence per server is no longer needed (rule, program).[1] At each activation the administrator enters the number of nodes for that installation; unused nodes can be activated on another server with the same key, and nodes can be reallocated by deactivating and reactivating. The Customer Portal lists every activation and deactivation, including the server name and the user who performed it.[1] Commentary: that activation history is the natural reconciliation record when comparing deployed nodes with the entitlement.
Licence server availability
The main SolarWinds Platform server acts as the licensing server and cannot be down for more than 14 days or the licences may be invalidated (rule).[4] Moving the main server requires deactivating the licences on the old server and activating them on the new one, after which the old server no longer gathers data (rule).[8]
Moving from module licences
Existing module customers can start a 30-day trial of all Observability Self-Hosted capabilities from the License Manager without a new installation, and SolarWinds offers “specialized conversion pricing” for them through sales.[3] During the trial the module licences are replaced with an Advanced, Enterprise Edition evaluation licence and saved in the background; when the evaluation ends the deployment reverts to the previous commercial licences, and switching back early does not pause the 30-day period (rule, program).[9] The trial can be repeated for every major release.[9] To activate a purchased licence, the original module licences must be deactivated first; the activation guide describes deactivating the on-premises licence online or offline and then activating the observability key.[9][1]
Where the old licences were perpetual, the conversion is governed by the On-Premises Product Specific Terms: the prior perpetual licences are terminated and superseded by the subscription, and must be deactivated and uninstalled within a commercially reasonable time after the new keys are activated (rule).[10] Using SaaS functionality such as Platform Connect requires accepting the SaaS Supplement (rule).[10]
Virtualization & partitioning
The observability licence counts monitored entities, not the infrastructure the platform runs on. Virtual machines hosting SolarWinds servers are Devices under the EULA.[7] Monitored VMs are counted as nodes, at 3:1 in Premier.[3] High Availability pools pair a primary and secondary server and need no additional product licences for the secondary (rule).[11]
Cloud / BYOL
The same subscription covers self-hosted deployment on premises or in customer-managed Azure, AWS or Google Cloud instances, and access to SaaS deployments.[3] Cloud entities monitored in Premier count at 3:1.[3] The Premier SaaS Network & Infrastructure entitlement is used under the SaaS terms: the SaaS Supplement for SaaS features reached from the on-premises product.[12]
Programs
- SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted Enterprise edition.[2]
- Value-based licensing.[3]
- Premier overages and the SolarWinds Improvement Program (SWIP).[2][6]
- Flexible licensing.[1]
- SolarWinds Platform product evaluation.[9]
Out of scope
This article does not cover SolarWinds Observability SaaS pricing, the per-module licences that remain on sale, or list prices, which the pricing page does not publish. Security Event Manager and Access Rights Manager, which integrate with the Advanced tier but are licensed separately, are covered in the overview.