[asterisk-users] ATA for large networks

[Vieri]

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm particularly curious to know if anyone has tried a TDMoE channel bank. Spidermux seems to be one of the few vendors available. It's the closest I can get to an "ATA"-like device (ie. no special hardware, just ethernet) and it also offers an easy failover mechanism to another Asterisk server on the LAN.
So I'm wondering why TDMoE channel banks aren't that popular (am I wrong?)? Is Asterisk's native TDMoE implemntation unreliable?
Has anyone tested Spidermux or other TDMoE channel bank manufacturer?

"Standard" channel banks become expensive when one has to buy the T1/E1 PCI cards on the Asterisk server. Since most channel banks interface with T1 (24 channels) and if I have about 350 analog phones to connect then I'd need around 15 T1s (that's about 4 quad-pri T1 cards which of course require 4 PCI slots and a fair amount of cash).

Xorcom's Astribank is something in-between. It doesn't require PCI slots or T1 cards but connects via USB. Just like T1 channel banks, Astribanks don't  seem to offer an easy failover mechanism like in the TDMoE solution (correct me if I'm wrong). However, a potentially higher number of astribanks can be "cheaply" connected to a single Asterisk server via several USB ports. I'm wondering how many 24-FXS astribanks can be connected via USB 2.0 to a single 4-USB-port server.

Of the three solutions I'd try the TDMoE device but I'm wondering why noone in this thread even mentioned the protocol.