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Managing Huge Networks with Open Source Tools?

Posted by Cliff on from the using-the-best-tools-for-the-job dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "I work for a large multinational firm with a network that spans the globe and am responsible for evaluating the software we use to monitor our network. Our department has a lot of money, and we're usually willing and able to spend it on good commercial software. Recently though, I find myself evaluating and approving more and more open source software. We are actually in the process of replacing some of our commercial tools with software like Nagios, LooperNG and syslog-ng. We are also evaluating MRTG, RRDTool, ntop and a host of other tools. The problem is that there's just too many of them, most of which are not maintained anymore. Here's my question: What other open-source tools do you use to monitor your networks? I not just looking for names, but how long you've been using them for, how easy / hard is it to administer and I guess how well it scales as the network grows. More importantly, are their respective projects still alive and kicking?"

3 of 45 comments (clear)

  1. Avoid unmaintained software... by OneDeeTenTee · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...unless you have the resources to maintain it yourself.

    You will find gaps in the utility of any set of tools you use, but a maintained project will be likely to have a community of people who can verify any patches you submit and provide tips on using the software in the most effective manner.

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  2. Support by ikeleib · · Score: 2, Insightful

    An advantage you have is the financial resources to make support arrangements for open source software. These arrangements can be standard, such as purchasing support from a company that expressly supports the OSS project. Or, it could be less traditional, such as finding the authors and making arrangements with them in advance. If you have the financial resources to do so, I would strongly suggest making support a criteria of selection.

  3. Another angle by Inda · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You say that your department has lots of money and you are happy to waste it on commercial software. You also say you like open source but are worried about it being maintained and supported.

    Sounds to me like you could create some jobs for a couple of talented programmers. Everyone wins.

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