[asterisk-users] Asterisk in the amazon cloud

[Alex Balashov]

On 07/14/2011 06:57 PM, Bruce Ferrell wrote:

> Does it work? Or do timing issues mess with audio?

It does, to a point.  You will definitely see problems at higher 
concurrent call volumes, and there is no question that concurrent call 
limits reachable in such an environment are lower than on bare metal.

You will also need to configure Asterisk to deal with the fact that 
EC2 instances have a private IP address homed on the network interface 
and a public IP DNAT'd to it 1-to-1.  The 'externip' parameter in 
sip.conf can be used to do that.

Actual experiences will vary greatly depending on the exact physical 
hardware node on which your VM is provisioned, just how viciously 
oversubscribed it is, and the I/O demand of other users.  A lot of it 
is a matter of luck.

For a small, infrequently used PBX, it will probably work fine.

Nir Simionovich has a more optimistic take, having utilised EC2 
instances for short-term outbound dialing campaigns based on Asterisk. 
  Here is a link to his Amoocon 2009 presentation on the topic:

http://www.simionovich.com/2009/05/14/asterisk-and-amazon-ec2-amoocon-presentation/

Perhaps it is a case where the economic benefit of "elastic" resources 
that can be ramped up to meet demand outweighs the opportunity costs 
of the aforementioned inconsistency.

-- 
Alex Balashov - Principal
Evariste Systems LLC
260 Peachtree Street NW
Suite 2200
Atlanta, GA 30303
Tel: +1-678-954-0670
Fax: +1-404-961-1892
Web: http://www.evaristesys.com/