The dev guys here have been working hard (as usual) and I'm pleased to announce that we now have new versions of Orion NPM (Network Performance Monitor) and NCM (Network Configuration Manager) available for download. For existing customers with active software maintenance these are free upgrades. For folks that haven't bought Orion yet, you can download an evaluation version from SolarWinds.Com to try out for 30 days.
Orion NPM version 9.5 offers several cool enhancements. My Top 3 would include wireless (it's built in now so that you can manage wired and wireless networks side by side), unpluggable port modes (lets you manage user ports differently than ports connected to servers, trunk ports, and etc), support for Cisco EnergyWise (a cool new way of reducing and tracking power consumption), and the new Network Atlas (OK, that's 4 but who's counting?).
Orion NCM version 5.5 also has a sweet set of new features. My favorites are tighter integration with Orion NPM and support for Cisco EnergyWise (not just the monitoring that Orion NPM provides but NCM helps to automate the deployment of this new Cisco feature.
I could add a lot more detail here but really the best way to learn about the new versions is to download and try them for yourself. Good luck and be sure to let us know what you think either here or within the Orion NPM and Orion NCM user forums.
Flame on...
Josh
Follow me on Twitter