Broadly speaking, open source software refers to any program with its source code made available to the public so that other developers or customers can edit and customise it to suit their needs. Open source network monitoring tools are becoming increasingly commonplace in Enterprise Network Management. Because they are often easily deploy-able and require less – or zero – financial commitment, open source network monitoring tools are often used in enterprise to quickly and easily accomplish a variety of network tasks.

The most common applications of open source network tools are network administration, monitoring and security, but open source has also made a significant impression on the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) market. Even though open source network monitoring tools have come a long way in recent years, many business owners and network managers still believe that the best solution requires expensive proprietary software.

The benefits of open source network monitoring include:

• Much lower up-front cost
• No contracts or paperwork with the service provider
• Open source code that can be customised to suit your purposes
• An active community that constantly contributes to the source code

Iris uses a combination of open source and proprietary network monitoring tools to ensure that we provide our clients with the most comprehensive and balanced monitoring solution possible.