[asterisk-users] WAS: 64 analog phones NOW: Selection criteria and recipie for a good Asterisk install [long]

[Jeronimo Romero]

Has anyone tried RedFone?? It is supposed to offload a lot of that bus
overhead to the external unit doing TDMoE. 

======================
Jeronimo Romero
EUS Networks
Email: jromero at euscorp.com
Cell: 917-332-7238
Office: 212-624-5943
Web: www.euscorp.com
======================


> -----Original Message-----
> From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-
> bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of John covici
> Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2006 12:14 PM
> To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
> Subject: RE: [asterisk-users] WAS: 64 analog phones NOW: Selection
> criteria and recipie for a good Asterisk install [long]
> 
> OK, pardon my ignorance -- but what can you tune on such a system?
> How does Linux handle separate buses?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> on Thursday 09/28/2006 Colin
Anderson(ColinA at landmarkmasterbuilder.com)
> wrote
>  > >I concur with your approach, but "Tier 1" means as little here as
it
>  > >does when evaluating Internet backbone carriers.  could you expand
on
>  > >what evaluation criteria you use?  I'm going to be pre-speccing
some
>  > >stuff myself this month...
>  >
>  > Sorry I should have been more clear. A good Asterisk install needs
a
>  > holistic approach to use a hippy dippy phrase. A Tier 1 server,
which
> is a
>  > midrange to high end name brand server from the Big 3 (Dell,
HP/Compaq,
> IBM,
>  > am I missing someone?) is usually highly optimized for bus
bandwidth
>  > although that design was intended for a different use - usually
massive
> disk
>  > I/O. As well, a Tier 1 server will have two seperate, independent
PCI
> buses
>  > and this to me is a critical feature - it allows you to completely
> separate
>  > your TDM traffic from network, disk I/O etc. On my big production
> Netfinity,
>  > I took great care to ensure the Digium cards were all on their
lonesome
> on a
>  > single bus, and everything else on the other bus. This is how I can
run
> two
>  > TE110's in a single box with no problems. zttest does not give me
100%
> all
>  > the time, but on the other hand it *never* drops below 99.9987%,
even
> under
>  > load. I selected this Netfinity because of the obvious care put
into
> it's
>  > design, but the specs are unimpressive: quad Xeon 700's. CPU is
over
> rated
>  > for Asterisk, IMO unless you are doing tons of transcoding and if
you
> are
>  > doing that, then your design is flawed.
>  >
>  > Anyway, the holistic approach (to go on a small rant for the newbie
> lurkers)
>  > be summed up as follows:
>  >
>  > 1. Good box, see above
>  > 2. Good LAN - this is so critical and so often overlooked in the
day
> and age
>  > of guys crimping their own cables and running $150 switches. You
can't
> do
>  > that, and if you do, you do so at your own peril. Managed swiches,
>  > professional cable installation. This is not a problem for me since
I
> *am* a
>  > professional cable installer but I have actually witnessed people
> making
>  > patch cables with a flat blade screwdriver and a hammer!
>  > 3. Tuning of the LAN - VLAN's are good. QoS packets are good.
Switches
> that
>  > honor the QoS packets are good.
>  > 4. Handset selection - this is another biggie. I've selected Snom
> 360's, and
>  > yes they have warts, but they are feature rich for the price and
Snom
> is
>  > really good about revising firmware. When you select handsets, GET
YOUR
>  > USERS INVOLVED.
>  > 5. Tuning of Asterisk box itself - this cannot be under emphasized.
> This is
>  > a very important step and tuning methodologies vary according to
> distro,
>  > skill of the admin, and particular circumstances. I've learned
*way*
> more
>  > than I ever wanted to about processor affinity sinc I started using
>  > Asterisk.
>  > 6. Termination of PSTN. Basically I would never do an Asterisk
install
> where
>  > I was forced to do something stupid like aggregate a dozen Centrex
> lines or
>  > some mickey mouse deal with FXO ATA's or whatever except for a
hobby or
>  > prototype install. PRI, BRI, IAX or SIP, don't mess around with
> anything
>  > else.
>  > 7. Relationship with provider. What is their SLA? Is it the
incumbent
> or the
>  > clec? An incumbent will be more expensive and more difficult to
deal
> with
>  > but they will tend to be more reliable. A clec will be cheaper and
they
> will
>  > be way more accomodating but you will most likely not get five 9's
from
>  > them. A VoIP provider should never be trusted, period. You will not
get
> five
>  > nines from them, ever. Plan failover situations accordingly.
>  > 8. Plan plan plan plan. A good install of ANYTHING is 80% planning
20%
> doing
>  > it. What is your plan when your primary PSTN provider fails? What
is
> your
>  > plan if your Asterisk box goes pear shaped? My dialplan can survive
> either
>  > PSTN, WAN or LAN failure (albeit with reduced functionality). I
also
> keep a
>  > cold spare, an identically configured box that I can literally
throw
> into
>  > the rack, turn it on, plug in the PRI's and no problem.
>  > 9. Internet bandwidth and latency. I am fortunate enough to have a
> great IP
>  > provider. Ask for demos - most guys will install a 90 day trial or
> something
>  > like that. Do not believe the brochure, get the product installed
and
> put it
>  > under load.
>  > 10. Traffic prioritization at the IP demarc - total no brainer.
>  > 11. Constant, constant user feedback and remediation. If you are
not
> talking
>  > to your users, your install will ultimately fail even if you have
the
> best
>  > of everything. Underpromise and overdeliver. Never loose sight of
the
> basics
>  > - they have to pick up the phone, and it has to work. Always.
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> --
> Your life is like a penny.  You're going to lose it.  The question is:
> How do
> you spend it?
> 
>          John Covici
>          covici at ccs.covici.com
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