Step 1: System Validation. The installer scanned his machine. Elias held his breath. A yellow warning triangle appeared. Warning: Memory allocation is lower than recommended. Performance may be degraded.

The main database (SQL Server) will consume the majority of available RAM. For the free trial, 16 GB is sufficient to monitor a small lab of 50–100 devices.

The NPM 2026 server requires a 64-bit Windows operating system. While desktop versions are permitted for evaluation, production environments must use a server-grade OS.

solarwinds.com/free-trials (look for Network Performance Monitor). At the time of writing, you may get a newer version, but you can request legacy access via support.

Quad-core processor at 2.4 GHz or faster . Large environments may require higher performance scores . RAM: Small: 6 GB minimum (8 GB recommended) . Medium: 8 GB minimum (16 GB recommended) . Large/XL: 16 GB to 32 GB minimum .

NPM 2020.2.6 is tightly coupled with Microsoft SQL Server (T-SQL stored procedures). No other database engine works.

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