David  Duffe*  

Is Asterisk Suitable for Business Critical Applications?

Our Agenda

•  Myths  to  bust  – Asterisk  is  a  so0ware  PBX  – You  must  be  a  Linux  guru  to  use  Asterisk  – PC-­‐based  telephony  is  bad  – Open  Source  So0ware  is  for  hobbyists  – Asterisk  is  not  ‘mainstream’  – Asterisk  has  no  ‘official’  support  – Asterisk  will  not  scale  for  high  call  volumes  – Asterisk  is  no  good  for  ‘high  availability’  soluHons  

Our Agenda

•  Example  configuraHon  for  business  criHcal  deployment  

•  Case  Study  Headlines    •  But  first...  

Meet Didier

Myth 1: Asterisk is ...

•  A  so0ware  PBX  •  Well  –  Yes,  but  ...  •  IT  IS  SO  MUCH  MORE  •  Asterisk  is  an  IP  COMMUNICATIONS  PLATFORM!  – Powerful  – Flexible  – Low  barriers  to  entry  

Myth 2: You must be a Linux guru

•  Obviously,  being  a  Linux  guru  is  helpful  in  lots  of  areas  of  life  ;-­‐)  

•  But  there  is  no  need  to  be  one  for  Asterisk  •  Basic  command  line  Linux  is  useful  •  Or  you  can  use  a  distribuHon  which  is  GUI-­‐based  

Myth 2: PC-based telephony is BAD

•  PC  based  telephony  offers  the  great  flexibility  and  cost-­‐effecHveness  – A  great  range  of  opHons  

•  Dual  (or  more)  power  supplies  •  MulHple  CPUs,  HDDs  (RAID)  •  MulHple  network  connecHons  •  MulHple  form  factors  (from  embedded  to  server)  •  BTW  -­‐  Even  proprietary  systems  are  PC-­‐based  these  days  

Myth 2: PC-based telephony is BAD

• Where  else  could  you  get  • HOT  SWAPPABLE  E1,  ISDN2e,  Analogue  and  GSM  connecIvity?  

• How?  By  USB!    

Myth 3: Open Source Software is for hobbyists

•  Well,  what  about  •  Linux  •  Apache  •  MySQL  •  PHP  •  Mozilla  Firefox  •  Open  Office  

Open Source: There’s something for everyone!

OperaIng  System   Linux  

Web  Server   Apache  

Browser   Firefox  

Telephony/CommunicaIons   Asterisk  

Database   MySQL  

Customer  RelaIonship  Management   SugarCRM  

Backup   Zmanda  

ProducIvity  Suite   Open  Office  

CollaboraIon  Suite   Zimbra  

Myth 4: Asterisk is not ‘mainstream’

•  Let’s  take  a  look  at  a  few  facts  and  figures...  

Source: Savatar

Myth 4: Asterisk is not ‘mainstream’ 2008  Total  North  America  Business  Telephone  System  

Market    

TradiIonal  PBX  and  Key  System  Lines     13,029,148  

Open  Source  lines   2,854,749  

Total  Lines   15,883,897  

Open  Source  as  a  %  of  Total     18%  

Source: Eastern Management Group

2008: BCS Market Share (NA)

Source: Eastern Management Group

Asterisk in the OSS IP PBX space

Source: Eastern Management Group

2008 New IP PBX Lines (NA)

Source: Eastern Management Group

2008  Largest  Suppliers   Lines  

Open  Source   2,854,749  

Nortel   2,632,145  

Cisco   1,990,255  

Avaya   1,752,885  

Mitel   1,228,887  

NEC   1,222,578  

Myth 5: Asterisk has no ‘official’ support

•  Open  Source  Asterisk  is  supported  by  Digium  (paid  for)  

•  Asterisk  Business  EdiHon  comes  packaged  with  both  a  warranty  and  support  

•  There  are  also  totally  pre-­‐packaged  soluHons:  SwitchVox  

The Asterisk Community

•  A  world-­‐wide  group  of  enthusiasts  •  “With  enough  eyeballs,  all  bugs  are  shallow.”  -­‐  Linus  Torvalds  

•  Digium  is  the  coordinaHng  force,  but  there  a  thousands  of  people  – Developing  – TesHng  – DocumenHng  

Myth 6: Asterisk will not scale for high call volumes

•  What  are  high  call  volumes?  •  Asterisk  can  be  used  as  a  building  block  with  other  technology  – SIP  proxy  

•  But,  just  give  an  idea  of  the  capabiliHes  – Asterisk  on  a  single  server  handled...  

More  than  10,000  calls!  Source: Olle Johansson

Myth 7: Asterisk is no good for ‘high availability’ solutions

•  Asterisk  is  so0ware...  •  You  can  build  ‘high  availability’  in  any  way  you  want!  

SIP  Proxy  

Media  Servers  

Standard Operation: Primary Active

•  Two Xorcom servers + dual-USB Astribank

IP  Phones  

PSTN

USB  USB  

Astribank  (rear  panel)    USB-­‐connected  channel  bank  providing  analog/digital  telephony  interfaces  

Xorcom  server  (backup)  

Xorcom  server  (primary)  

Analog  Phones  

LAN/WAN

If the Primary Server Fails…

Analog  Phones  

IP  Phones  

PSTN  

USB  USB  

Astribank  (rear  panel)    telephony  interfaces  

Xorcom  server  (backup)  

Xorcom  server  (primary)  

LAN/WAN  

Switch  Changes  to  Backup  Server  

Backup  Server  assumes  Primary  Server  IP  Address  

Case Study Headlines

•  Asterisk  chosen  by  the  City  of  Amsterdam  – 23,000  end  points  

•  Asterisk  deployed  in  US  university  – >  10,000  users  

•  Asterisk  deployed  by  a  KL-­‐based  company  – 130,000  users,  up  to  10,000  concurrent  calls  

•  Asterisk  provides  fault  tolerant  IP  PBX  for  SMEs  at  an  amazing  price-­‐point  

Questions or comments?

•  Asterisk  is  a  so0ware  PBX  •  You  must  be  a  Linux  guru  to  use  Asterisk  •  PC-­‐based  telephony  is  bad  •  Open  Source  So0ware  is  for  hobbyists  •  Asterisk  is  not  ‘mainstream’  •  Asterisk  has  no  ‘official’  support  •  Asterisk  will  not  scale  for  high  call  volumes  •  Asterisk  is  no  good  for  ‘high  availability’  soluHons  

Asterisk Myths

Thank you

david.duffe*@telespeak.co.uk