[Asterisk-Users] Mission-Critical Deployments

[C F]

On 11/17/05, John Goerzen <jgoerzen at complete.org> wrote:
> I work for a company that is nearing the end-of-life on its existing
> Nortel Meridian switch and is considering Asterisk.  We have
> approximately 200 existing extensions, and probably 150 out of those 200
> are using basic analog phones and would stay that way.  The rest would
> have VOIP phones at the desk.
>
> We're seriously considering switching to Asterisk.  I've done quite a
> bit of tinkering with Asterisk for my home, but I'm not certain about a
> few aspects of how we might deploy Asterisk in the enterprise.
>
> Here are my questions:
>
> 1. Where could I look for some resources on server sizing?  Is it
>    any problem to support this number of users with a single server?


Not a problem at all, just make sure you have as much redundancy as
possible in the server (RAID, Dual Power Supply, etc.).

>
> 2. What do we need to do for our data network to make VOIP reliable?
>    QoS, basic traffic prioritization on the switch, vlan, ???
>

If you are not running a bandwidth hungy network, then you might be
able to work with just one vlan, if you don't want to take the chance,
then yes you need: QOS, and VLANs.

> 3. What's the best way to integrate these 150 analog extensions?
>    I've seen interface boxes that usually come in 24-port sizes.  Some
>    have an Ethernet/SIP interface to hook up to Asterisk, and others
>    have a T1 interface.  What sounds best and is the most reliable?

Use Channel Banks, they are the best possible. A quad port T1 gives
you 96 channels, all can be used for analog stations. which means you
will need at least 2 quad t1 cards. I personaly like the Adit 600 for
this job.

> 4. What is a good company to contract with for emergency support?
>    Digium?

If you need something like this, then either look on the wiki for
local consultants, or you should consider digiums business edition
package.

>
> 5. What are people doing to make VOIP phones resiliant in the face of
>    power outages?

POE swithces that are powered by UPS.


> Is there anybody here that would be willing to serve as a reference
> check for Asterisk should we pursue that path?

I think the list is around 24-7. :)


> Thanks,
>
> -- John
>
>
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