Homer

Homer is an open-source server application designed for telecom observability. It captures and monitors SIP, VoIP, and RTC packets, storing the data in a columnar data lake for analysis and troubleshooting. The software functions as an all-in-one capture and API server that processes HEP packets to provide visibility into network signaling and media quality across complex telecommunications environments.

Deployed as a server on Linux or MacOS, Homer can be run as a standalone binary, via Docker, or within Kubernetes clusters. It provides a built-in user interface for human operators and a comprehensive command-line interface for executing searches and managing system operations. Users can interact with the captured data through a REST API, a dedicated SQL shell, or by exporting SIP messages to PCAP files for external analysis.

Key features

• All-in-one architecture combining writer, reader, coordinator, compactor, and API
• Columnar data lake design using DuckDB and Apache Arrow/Parquet
• Support for HEPv3 agents for packet capture
• VQRTCP SIP QoS collector for monitoring media quality
• SIPREC signaling SRS for metadata capture
• Linear scaling via shared object storage catalogs
• Built-in user interface and MCP support for LLM integration
• Command-line search tool with call flow and PCAP output

The software utilizes a modular architecture consisting of an ingest module for receiving packets via UDP, TCP, TLS, or HTTPS, and a storage module for writing to DuckLake. A node module handles gRPC and HTTP queries, while a coordinator acts as the REST API gateway for the UI and external applications. It includes a configuration wizard to generate deployment profiles for different roles, such as edge nodes or coordinators. This design allows the system to scale from a single instance down to zero or expand across a distributed pool of object storage.

This tool is intended for telecom engineers and network administrators who require a centralized system to correlate signaling events and analyze call flows. It provides the necessary infrastructure to monitor VoIP and WebRTC traffic at scale.