"The service has been exemplary and infallible, the technical support is prompt and courteous and the features and statistics are abundant. I like the simplicity of having a single DNS service instead of using one for each ISP. While that was enough for me to begin using OpenDNS it's the extras that have made it a valuable service for a cost conscious organization like Australia Zoo. "
— Ben Johns, Network Administrator

Unmanageable DNS and Outrageous Bills

Australia Zoo is the home of the late Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, and employs a staff of more than 500 full-time employees. It spans more than 600 acres and houses more than 1,000 native and exotic animals.

As fees for Internet usage have risen in recent years and online threats have mounted, the Zoo found bills for connectivity and the cost of security hardware to be unmanageable.  Zoo IT staffers sought a solution that would ease the job of managing DNS while also providing a way to filter Web content and save bandwidth.

Faster Internet, Lower Bills, No More Appliances

Prior to making the switch to OpenDNS, Australia Zoo was reliant upon a single local server that referenced the root name servers directly, as well as limited "deep packet inspection" capabilities on its firewalls, all of which proved tedious to the network administrators. After testing OpenDNS on individual machines, the team decided to roll it out network-wide.

Australia Zoo has two name servers within its network that all workstations and servers use for internal and external lookups. Network administrator Ben John has set all to forward external requests to OpenDNS. He also set each of the Zoo's remote/VPN users to use OpenDNS so they don't have to worry about changing settings when traveling.

Johns noticed the impact of switching to OpenDNS right away. Bandwidth usage dropped dramatically, instantly, and connectivity fees were lower than ever. OpenDNS Web content filtering meant the Zoo could discontinue use of its pricy filtering appliance and software and the ease of managing all Zoo networks in one spot saved countless time. Johns recommends OpenDNS to other cost-conscious organizations seeking a solution that blocks Web content and requires no hardware to purchase and nothing to download and install.