[Asterisk-Users] Mission-Critical Deployments

[pdhales at optusnet.com.au]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Goerzen" <jgoerzen at complete.org>
To: <asterisk-users at lists.digium.com>
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 2:37 AM
Subject: [Asterisk-Users] Mission-Critical Deployments


> 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?

A decent dual xeon should be fine for that...or 2 or 3 smaller servers...
(depends on the funtionality you need)

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

If it's doable, a serapate data network for VOIP.
A friends install moved to that after running VOIP on their main network,
and it made a huge difference.
YMMV.

> 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?

Here I am going to disagree with you. Buy cheap IP phones.
The hardware, setup and lack of functionality of analog extensions makes
them a second choice for me.

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

Find a local consultant. There are quite a few around...

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

I have found the device called a UPS to be a useful in this regard, when
hooked up to POE.

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

I could. But I live in melbourne, australia.
Which is not the same as austria.

>
> Thanks,
>
> -- John

All just my 2 cents.

PaulH