Cacti vs Solarwinds: What are the differences?

1. Scalability: Cacti is limited in terms of scalability as it relies on a single polling server. On the other hand, Solarwinds offers better scalability with the capability to support distributed polling engines, allowing for more efficient monitoring of larger environments.
2. Ease of Use: Cacti requires advanced technical knowledge and significant initial setup to be fully functional. Solarwinds, on the other hand, provides a user-friendly interface with easy-to-use wizards and automated setup, making it quicker and simpler to implement.
3. Supported Devices: Cacti supports a limited range of devices and protocols, mainly SNMP-based. In contrast, Solarwinds provides support for a wide range of devices and protocols, including SNMP, WMI, and ICMP, allowing for more comprehensive network monitoring capabilities.
4. Alerting and Notifications: Cacti lacks advanced alerting and notification features. Solarwinds, on the other hand, offers robust alerting capabilities, including customizable alert thresholds, flexible alert triggers, and the ability to send notifications via various channels like email, SMS, or mobile apps.
5. Reporting: Cacti has limited reporting capabilities, providing only basic graphs and static reports. Solarwinds, on the other hand, offers advanced reporting features, allowing users to generate dynamic reports, customize report templates, and schedule automated report generation.
6. Integration and Extensibility: Cacti has a limited number of plugins and lacks integration capabilities with other systems. Solarwinds, on the other hand, offers extensive integration options, with a wide range of plugins, APIs, and the ability to integrate with third-party applications, allowing for more flexibility and customization.

In Summary, Cacti is limited in scalability and ease of use, with restricted device support and lacking advanced alerting, reporting, and integration capabilities. On the other hand, Solarwinds offers better scalability, a more user-friendly interface, broader device and protocol support, advanced alerting and reporting features, and greater integration and extensibility options.