Prior to this, monitoring tools were generally console based, or required graphic terminals such as X Window to operate.
Big Brother produces HTML pages containing a simple matrix of hosts and tests with red and green dots to denote system status.
[6] Big Brother has also been cited in a number of books on system administration,[7][8][9][10] computer security,[11][12] and networking.
[14] Sean MacGuire wrote Big Brother in 1996 after he received what he believed to be an overpriced quote for network-monitoring software.
[15] In August 1997, it was mentioned in an article by Paul Sittler in Linux Journal[16] Shortly after the initial release, Robert-Andre Croteau joined MacGuire and added notification rules, which he described in a Sys Admin article published in September 1998,[17] and created the Windows version.
[20] In June 2016, Dell announced the sale of their software division, including the Quest business, to Francisco Partners and Elliott Management Corporation.