[asterisk-users] A few (simple?) questions

Wed Dec 14 10:29:04 CST 2011

Please feel free to pass this along:

DON'T DO IT!

Taking questionable code, from what appears to be a questionable
relationship, and then trying to extend its life is probably the craziest
way to go about this.

You, personally, are in for a steep learning curve on this.  Having worked
with Asterisk for six years now, I can look back and see that jumping into
complex projects with it at the beginning would have led to many problems.

On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 9:22 AM, Brynjolfur Thorvardsson <binni at itanet.nu>wrote:

> Hi Carlos and thanks for the advice. I agree with you wholeheartedly but
> I’m not sure if I have much choice in the matter. The system was originally
> designed to offer PBX services to private clinics and currently handles
> between 10 and 20, with 70 phone numbers. The guys I work for want to
> expand into other market segments here in Denmark and my job is to
> re-install the system on some new servers and start making changes.****
>
> ** **
>
> The code is not very well written, the original developers have totally
> misunderstood the RVM model in Rails and the Asterix config files are full
> of unused code and example code. There is also some very sloppy version
> control in the Rails/Adhearsion files and absolutely no regression testing.
> But, hey, it seems to work!****
>
> ** **
>
> I would like to start from fresh and re-develop the system, I am not at
> all confident of being able to just lift the code from the current servers
> and copy/paste it all onto some new ones and expect it to work. Your solid
> advice might help me make the case for a fresh start, but whichever way it
> goes, at least I’ll be kept busy ...****
>
> ** **
>
> *Fra:* asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com [mailto:
> asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] *På vegne af *Carlos Alvarez
> *Sendt:* 14. december 2011 16:58
>
> *Til:* Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
> *Emne:* Re: [asterisk-users] A few (simple?) questions****
>
> ** **
>
> Getting involved in an existing, and possibly broken system is the wrong
> way to start with Asterisk.  I know, because that's how my career in VoIP
> started.  I had to unlearn a lot of poor practices I learned from that
> system.****
>
> ** **
>
> But anyway without prior documentation or the ability to get the original
> design intention, I think your next step is to go right back to the
> beginning, and gather the user requirements and create a design.  Then see
> if it was solved properly, or you need to start over, or what.  Without the
> basics I don't think you can answer the questions you had.  Once you know
> what was needed and why it was custom-written, you'll probably have all
> those answers.  Just know that in its basic form, to process calls for a
> normal company, nothing is needed other than one Asterisk server.
>  Everything else is extra, which may or may not be warranted.  I've seen a
> number of deployments that seemed geared more towards making a very
> profitable complex custom system than just giving the customer the best
> value.****
>
> ** **
>
> Asterisk is a particularly noob-unfriendly product with a lot of pitfalls
> and relatively poor documentation.  Don't go into it lightly, and always be
> aware that doing it wrong results in anything from system failures to
> thousands of dollars in toll fraud costs.****
>
> ** **
>
> On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 8:38 AM, Brynjolfur Thorvardsson <binni at itanet.nu>
> wrote:****
>
> Hi Carlos and thanks for your answer. To begin with: I am a noob in all
> telephony/asterisk/ror fields, coming from a Classic ASP/MS background!
> I’ve been nosing around in RoR and Asterisk for the last month or so and
> have managed to create several RoR sites and to get an Asterisk server up
> and running so me and my boss can phone each other using softphone on a
> smartphone.****
>
>  ****
>
> So, yes it’s going to be fun! And again, thanks for your answer.****
>
>  ****
>
>  ****
>
> *Fra:* asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com [mailto:
> asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] *På vegne af *Carlos Alvarez
> *Sendt:* 14. december 2011 16:13****
>
>
> *Til:* Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
> *Emne:* Re: [asterisk-users] A few (simple?) questions****
>
>  ****
>
> On Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 2:18 AM, Brynjolfur Thorvardsson <binni at itanet.nu>
> wrote:****
>
>  ****
>
> I’ve been saddled with recreating a running Asterisk PBX setup (with Ruby
> on Rails). Due to some wrangling between my client and the original
> developers I am not able to talk to the developers themselves but have been
> given full SSH access to their servers!****
>
>  ****
>
> Jumping in without documentation or help when there is a questionable
> relationship between the client and developer...this should be a lot of fun.
> ****
>
>  ****
>
>  ****
>
> The system offers PBX services to  ~10 small firms and connects via a SIP
> trunk to a Telecoms company.****
>
>  ****
>
> Sounds way over-built, but since we don't know the intent of the
> architecture nor all the features expected, hard to say.****
>
>  ****
>
> -          STUN server – is it necessary (given that there are many free
> STUN servers on the Internet), and why two?****
>
>  ****
>
> I don't believe so. ****
>
> -          Why have a separate Asterisk server for the trunk?****
>
> Can't think of any reason. ****
>
> -          Is the Apache Message Queue server necessary?****
>
> "Necessary" is not something that can be answered.  In their environment
> as programmed, probably.  In general, can an Asterisk server run without
> it?  Yes.  A low-end single x86 server can easily support hundreds of
> endpoints and dozens of concurrent calls, with all Asterisk services
> running on a single server.****
>
> Do you have Asterisk expertise already?  RoR, SQL, other telephony...?****
>
>
> ****
>
>  ****
>
> -- ****
>
> Carlos Alvarez****
>
> TelEvolve****
>
> 602-889-3003****
>
>  ****
>
>  ****
>
>  ****
>
>
> --
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>
>
>
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> -- ****
>
> Carlos Alvarez****
>
> TelEvolve****
>
> 602-889-3003****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
>  ****
>
> --
> _____________________________________________________________________
> -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com --
> New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs:
>               http://www.asterisk.org/hello
>
> asterisk-users mailing list
> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
>   http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
>

-- 
Carlos Alvarez
TelEvolve
602-889-3003
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