On Tue, 9 Nov 2010, Bruce B wrote: > Thanks for input. Great info. Good to know all this about the router. I see > you use a 256MB CF card there. Do you use a USB key stick for storage?
No. Things that stick out of boxes in small offices get broken off. (ie. the type of places that do not have a server room) Everything is stored on the 256MB CF card - which is overkill, I only need 64MB for the OS, etc., but it provides plenty of space for voicemail and additional sound prompts. I provide a 2GB card for people who want to store call recordings. I actually have my own cut-down version of Linux and a full-custom compiled kernel that I use in these things, but you'll get a standard Debian in there if you go for a text-only install, but a 2GB CF cards isn't a big hassle. I don't think it will boot off USB though (but I've never tried) - there is a 44-pin header behind the CF socket, so maybe you can plug a suitable CD-ROM drive in that. When building, I boot them via PXE then use my booted image to write a copy of itself to the flash. The "bios" is very primitive and of-course there's no video hardware on-board. They run at 5 watts which is nice too. Gordon > > Thanks, > Bruce > > On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 4:09 AM, Gordon Henderson > <[email protected]<gordon%[email protected]> >> wrote: > >> On Mon, 8 Nov 2010, Bruce B wrote: >> >>> Yes, it is a small office. I am familiar with pfSense. I am not sure if >>> firewall on Astlinux is as versatile and flexible. But also, I am >> wondering >>> if with all those attacks around now-a-days if the box will be able to >>> handle 5 extensions, voicemail, IVR, firewall, DHCP, openvpn all >> together. >> >> I've benchmarked an Alix board with a 500MHz processor to 80 concurrent >> calls handling media. >> >> They're the mainstay of my small office VoIp only PBX range right now >> where I limit them to 60 extensions. (the real limitation on number of >> calls is their broadband bandwidth). Storing voicemail and call recording >> won't be an issue for you - but do get a fast CF card. >> >> http://unicorn.drogon.net/cutie.jpg >> >> What you need to do is learn Linux networking and iptables - then you >> won't need pfsense, etc. Install a good text-only distribution and you're >> done. e.g. Debian Lenny in text-only mode. To get he best from the >> hardware then you'll need a custom kernel, but that's no big deal. >> >> However the thing that will kill it is multiple VPN terminations - unless >> you can persuade the system to use the on-board AES crypto engine, but I >> regularly use ssh into my systems without any detriment, so you could use >> OpenVPN, etc. >> >> I am considering making my boxes into a router and handle PPPoE too, then >> they can do proper traffic shaping, etc. They're more than capable. >> >> Gordon >> >> -- >> _____________________________________________________________________ >> -- 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 >> > -- _____________________________________________________________________ -- 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
