Larry, redfone works like a charm and I use them when the customer wants a redundant E1 (no T1 in our country).
Here comes my marketing speech ;)) One example of an installation: Two asterisk configured exactly the same, connected to the same 100mbit switch One fonebridge with two E1 from PSTN and the ethernet port of the fonebridge to the switch where the two asterisk are. For each G711 call that arrives at the E1, we assume 80Kbits of bandwidth, so 60 channels (30 per E1) give us 60*80=4800Kbits We then assume another 25% (1200 kbits) for things like Window Size for TCP, bottleneck link capacity, end station processing and buffering capacity and other delay factors in TCP. So we have a total usage of 4800+1200=6000Kbit or 6Mbit Given the fact that the backplane of the switch has plenty bandwidth and that my asterisks boxes are 100 full duplex, I can happily host two E1 with one main asterisk server and one (or more) failover (via linux heartbeat). End users use SIP IP phones connecting to a second network card on the asterisk servers or I can even use channel banks (using the same fonebridge) and have cheap analog phones in place. When I showed the customer how the failover worked i did any of this: a- i shutdown asterisk b- i shutdown linux c- I removed the AC power cord from the main Linux while serving calls. heartbeat helped me bring to life the failover box in a few seconds. And since I can configure the spans on the fonebridge I can even distribute the load among several low-profile asterisk server hardware and have "blocks" of users per server. Think EPIAs here ;) In terms of my mini/nano ITX/ATX solution: When VIA says 1GHz CPU, are we talking the same "mhz" as in normal CPUs? According to my calculations in the Intel world, a 1GHZ CPU can sustain 30 G711 calls at the same time (not allowing reinvite and G711 all the way). Because I use the "30MHZ per channel" guide. If I talk about internal SIP calls and I allow reinvite, well, I can go for like 60 users SIP to SIP with reinvite (so asterisk was released from the job of keeping control of the call, but then you'll miss important features) and somewhere around 20 G711 calls to PSTN. Does the same numbers apply in VIA? Can I find a motherboard in VIA that does not has audio and mpeg decoder included? Since USB has a bandwith in theory of 480mbits but in reality of about 320mbits, then an asterisk server with a xorcom USB channel bank box with 12fxs analog and 4 fxo analog will generate traffic like: 12 fxs listening to voicemail on the ITX box: 12*80 = 960kbits 4 fxo listening to voicemail = 4*80 = 320kbits Way below the allowed USB usage. However a xorcom with such config is about 1000 US dollars. Not including the ITX stuff. I really love to hear what models (if my logic still applies to ITX) of VIA I can use. On 9/29/06, Larry Shields <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Erick, > > Nice post. I personally like the AudioCodes products myself. I think they > are engineered well. I did not see your previous post regarding your desire > to "deploy a 12FXS/4FXO g711, CF based linux/asterisk and hdd used to hold > voicemail". I have deployed quite a few Asterisk installation on standard > ATX solutions and recently did my first ITX solution. I currently use a > small chassis ITX form factor with VIA 1GHz CPU. Astlinux runs on CF while > I have 40GB HDD for voicemail. Once I deployed Astlinux it was just a mater > of configuring Astlinx to mount the HDD and point the astspooldir => > /var/spool/asterisk parameter in asterisk.conf to the mounted HDD. > > I am currently using the new Rhino 4FXO card in this chassis without any > problem so far. How do you plan on addressing your 12FXS/4FXO requirement? > Using external gateways or a combination of TDM card with EG? > > On another note, in your post you refer to red-fone. What has your > experience been with this product? Have you done any deployments with > clustered or hot-standby Asterisk servers in combination with red-fone > gateway? > > Regards, > Larry > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Erick Perez" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Discussion of AstLinux - Asterisk on Compact Flash" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Friday, September 29, 2006 9:51 AM > Subject: Re: [Astlinux-users] external Gateway vs PCI card [was: KeyDisk] > > > > Kristian, you haven't had time to play with Quintums right? They are > > as painful as AudioCodes. > > > > Tom, > > When I'm sure that my customer will not care to see extra boxes right > > next to the asterisk I go with external gateways all the time. > > External Gateways (EG) provide me with the following benefits: > > - EG Always have DSP chips implemented, some brands implement Octasic > > DSP chips, others utilize different manufacturers. > > - EG Provides the horsepower to mix and mtch codecs, and in case I > > need to do transcoding, a dedicated box is always better than a > > motherboard full of TDM400P > > -I need to make a special comment about EG and the need for channel > > banks. Here my choice is RedFone (http://www.red-fone.com/) it is > > basically TDMoE and it helps me achieve several other things in terms > > of balance and redundancy. > > > > Since I am in Panama,Central America, the only thing we care when > > talking about brands are Clothes, Watches and Cars. > > If the customer has the money, we go for Cisco, Audicodes, Mediatrix, > > because we get them locally and they have a representation office. > > If the customer wants to start low and then go up then we use things > > like Quintum, Octtel or equiments from telecomchinasourcing. We need > > to order them from Asia, takes a long time to come here and we might > > have to have some stock in case of get a unit DOA. > > > > But to give you and example: Octtel 4 FXS, with onboard DSP, > > SIP,h323,IAX2 and some other nice things: US Dollars: 250.00 and the > > 8port FXS 450.00 both with 6 months warranty and full system exchange > > in case of failure. > > And the important thing, They work like a charm, they dont crash, they > > dont get toasted,etc. > > > > And My Asterisk box will be more than happy to get a voice stream that > > does not need to transcode, recode, etc. > > > > So my advice to you Tom, get External Gateways but keep them below > > 20-30 FXS or below 20-30 FXO, ottherwise you'll end up wasting room > > space and power consumption. > > > > Kris: do you use app_meetme or app_conference for conference rooms? > > The question arises due to meetme needing to convert to slin before > > stream broadcasting. app_conference does not need to do that. > > > > Oh, an in case someone actually read this post, im still learning > > about mini/micro/nano ATX/ITX and I need to know what do I need to get > > to deploy a 12FXS/4FXO g711, CF based linux/asterisk and hdd used to > > hold voicemail. My previous post went unanswered. ;;) > > > > > > I hope my rant help others.... > > > > > > > > On 9/28/06, Kristian Kielhofner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Tom Bacevicius wrote: > >> > I am about to start researching the purchase of a few of these external > >> > gateways. I was wondering if anyone could share their experiences and > >> > make some recommendations? Kristian, you seem to have quite a bit of > >> > experience with these things. Can you share some of your wisdom with us > >> > ;-) > >> > > >> > Thanks, Tom > >> > > >> > >> Tom, > >> > >> Analog/POTS: > >> > >> AudioCodes seem nice. I have yet to use one extensively, but I have a > >> couple of them lying around that I have played with a bit. They have a > >> TON of configuration options (seriously - if you though Sipura was bad, > >> just wait), which I always appreciate. > >> > >> For one off scenarios, I like the Linksys/Sipura devices. The features > >> aren't bad, they are easily provisioned, and they are stable. There are > >> some quirks, though. For instance, last I checked the 3xxx gateways do > >> not listen for DTMF tones on the PSTN Line when the call has been > >> connected to a SIP server. That's pretty annoying... > >> > >> Digital (PRI hopefully): > >> > >> Cisco. I really have a love/hate relationship with them. Just when I > >> start to appreciate their products, I am reminded of why so many people > >> hate them. When it comes time to activate or renew a service contract, > >> for example (just to get new IOS versions). Anyways, they are expensive > >> but you can find a 2651XM and NM-HDV module on the used market for less > >> than you'd think (still not cheap). It you are buying new gear, on the > >> low end the 2811 + PVDM2 + VWIC2 is a good combo. On the high end, you > >> have got to appreciate the AS5xxxXM, which can easily support eight PRI > >> circuits in 1U. All Cisco gear has standardized versions of IOS that > >> support everything you'd ever need, including: > >> > >> 1) SIP over anything - UDP,TCP,etc > >> 2) T.38 faxing (even as a gateway, obviously) > >> 3) G729a/b/G723 in hardware (DSP) > >> 4) So, so much more > >> > >> -- > >> Kristian Kielhofner > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Astlinux-users mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> http://lists.kriscompanies.com/mailman/listinfo/astlinux-users > >> > >> Donations to support AstLinux are graciously accepted via PayPal to > >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> > > > > > > -- > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > > Erick Perez > > Panama Sistemas > > Integradores de Telefonia IP y Soluciones Para Centros de Datos > > Panama, Republica de Panama > > Cel Panama. +(507) 6694-4780 > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > > Astlinux-users mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://lists.kriscompanies.com/mailman/listinfo/astlinux-users > > > > Donations to support AstLinux are graciously accepted via PayPal to > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > -- ------------------------------------------------------------ Erick Perez Panama Sistemas Integradores de Telefonia IP y Soluciones Para Centros de Datos Panama, Republica de Panama Cel Panama. +(507) 6694-4780 ------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Astlinux-users mailing list [email protected] http://lists.kriscompanies.com/mailman/listinfo/astlinux-users Donations to support AstLinux are graciously accepted via PayPal to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
