[asterisk-users] Digium PRI cards for data usage?

[Tilghman Lesher]

On Monday 31 August 2009 21:59:28 Tim Nelson wrote:
> Greetings- I'm wondering if the Digium PRI cards can be used for data
> (Cisco HDLC, PPP, etc) or if they're for voice circuits only. I haven't
> been able to find any information on this. All documentation direct from
> Digium seems to indicate their hardware is for voice applications only.
> Sangoma's cards work in either voice or data mode but of course this is
> configured in their Wanpipe software. Thanks for any pointers.

You can.  The keyword is "nethdlc" in /etc/dahdi/system.conf, although to
enable it, you need to uncomment CONFIG_DAHDI_NET in
include/dahdi/dahdi_config.h and recompile the dahdi drivers.  Once the
active spans are configured with nethdlc, use the sethdlc command line
utility to set up the bonded channels into the various network interfaces
(hdlc0 through hdlcN).  Depending upon your configuration, you may or
may not also need to then configure the corresponding pvcN devices.

Here is an article on the old Zaptel interface.  While the name of the driver
may have changed, the procedures remain the same:
http://www.softwink.com/papers/Installation_Securing_VoIP_With_Linux/

By the way, the method for determining which channels are bonded are
as simple as the number of channels you configure together (on a single
line) in /etc/dahdi/system.conf.  For example, you can do as little as
nethdlc=1 (for a single 64k channel) up to nethdlc=1-192 (for 8 T1s bonded
into a single data device).  Each nethdlc line in the config becomes a
separate hdlcN device.

-- 
Tilghman & Teryl
with Peter, Cottontail, Midnight, Thumper, & Johnny (bunnies)
and Harry, BB, & George (dogs)