FOOD FOR THOUGHT PIAF on a Router????

[edlentz]

We are contemplating the idea of using PIAF on a router. Here are our thoughts.

1. Router to be running Tomato firmware
2. Have PIAF running on the router
3. Lock down PIAF to ONLY allow 10 or less phones

The router we like is an Asus RTN-16 It works really well with Tomato 1.28 on it. We used to use DD-WRT but Tomato seems more secure.

So, is this possible to do? I have seen others "claim" they are running Asterisk on Linksys 45gl routers in the past.

Any and all comments are much appreciated!

 

[jerrm]

Theoretically yes, but it would be a painful process and I doubt the result would be worth the effort. Reliability of more than 2 or 3 sessions is questionable with the constraints of the RTN16's 480mhz MIPS processor with 128MB RAM.

Straight Asterisk is pretty easy on Tomato using Entware or Tomatoware Asterisk packages. PIAF would be more problematic with all of the extra dependencies(apache, php, SQL etc etc). Even with a swap file enabled, getting it all running in 128MB RAM might not work. Existing install scripts are not going to "just work" with the rebased path and busybox issues. Again, given enough time anything is doable, but is it worth the effort?

Using a debian chroot environment might help ease the process, but would be even more demanding on system resources.

One of the newer ARM based routers supported by Tomato with a debian chroot environment might be a happy middle ground, but if you already have the RTN16, an RPi2 would be less expensive and a likely a better performer.

 

[edlentz]

Thanks jerrm

We are trying to come up with a single appliance that would do both Router/firewall and VoIP server. Something that can go in and handle a small office. A "Turn Key" type of setup. So far it looks like alot of work.

 

[wardmundy]

http://nerdvittles.com/?p=15048

 

[jerrm]

We are trying to come up with a single appliance that would do both Router/firewall and VoIP server. Something that can go in and handle a small office. A "Turn Key" type of setup. So far it looks like alot of work.

An ARM unit like an Asus RT-AC68 or Netgear R7000 with a Debian chroot environment might be workable.

Once in the chroot, other than figuring out what packages need to be installed as a prerequisite, something like the Raspbian install scripts should require (relatively) minimal tweaks. RAM is still a concern, as the units still max out at 256MB.

@wardmundy's NUC2820 might fall short due to lack of ports for networking, but there are other multiport boxes out there(at higher cost).

 

[Jay Deal]

@wardmundy's NUC2820 might fall short due to lack of ports for networking, but there are other multiport boxes out there(at higher cost).

Get a smart VLAN switch like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K4DS5KU?keywords=Smart switch tp link&qid=1447001811&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2 and the ports issue is mute. Almost all Linux flavors support VLAN routing functionality. In other words, your NUC could act as a IPBX server and router without breaking a sweat.

Edit: You just inspired me to try it on a Pogoplug running Debian and IPBX

 

[jerrm]

Get a smart VLAN switch like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K4DS5KU?keywords=Smart switch tp link&qid=1447001811&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2 and the ports issue is mute. Almost all Linux flavors support VLAN routing functionality. In other words, your NUC could act as a IPBX server and router without breaking a sweat.

Realized, but if the desire is a single box, it falls short. Disregarding the horsepower issues, NUC + Switch is no better than a Router + Pi (or NUC). Strong arguments for either position, just depends on the needs.

 

[Jay Deal]

Add Velcro and, walla, you have a single box

 

[edlentz]

We already have a box we use that has an Atom processor and 2 network ports for a 40 user system. I have looked for a way to incorporate a DHCP, VPN and router software along with FreePbx. Nothing already to install that is. Any thoughts on adding whatever is necessary (software wise) to an existing setup?

 

[jerrm]

We already have a box we use that has an Atom processor and 2 network ports for a 40 user system. I have looked for a way to incorporate a DHCP, VPN and router software along with FreePbx. Nothing already to install that is. Any thoughts on adding whatever is necessary (software wise) to an existing setup?

Install dnsmasq (DNS/DHCP/t*f*t*p) if not already installed and OpenVPN and you have the basics of what is doing the work in Tomato. You lose the GUI to manage and tie it all together. There are various Linux/iptables firewall gui tools out there to help.

But...

There is value in having a separate HW firewall in my opinion.

 

[edlentz]

Yeah I also value a separate firewall. This idea is for the small guy. All he needs is a switch, my system and an internet modem. I sold a similar system some time ago. It used a USB flash drive for All of it. Needless to say it didn't last the test of time.

 

[ostridge]

And so the message says
WARNING: Always run Incredible PBX behind a secure hardware-based firewall

 

[GomezAddams]

Install ESXi on a small PC with two ethernet ports. Run pfsense in one virtual, PiaF in another.

 

[edlentz]

I had not considered using VM for this. Thanks GomezAddams for the idea. I have used PFSense in the past. Here is the system we are using. With 4 GB ram and a SSD drive. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856205007

 

[GomezAddams]

I had not considered using VM for this. Thanks GomezAddams for the idea. I have used PFSense in the past. Here is the system we are using. With 4 GB ram and a SSD drive. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856205007

That might work ok for a small environment, but that CPU may not be the best choice:

• Past versions of the atom CPU that I've worked with have been poor performers.
• The D2550 CPU in the box you referenced doesn't have the virtualization instructions. You'll have to drop back to an older version of ESX. I think either 4.1 or 5.0 were the last versions that could run without virtualization instruction support on the CPU.

VirtualBox appears to have an option for running headless under linux. I've used VirtualBox under windows (and love it), but I've never tried it under linux, let alone headless.

I have no experience at all with other virtualization technologies.

 

[jroper]

Hi

I'm using Virtualbox headless on Ubuntu14.04, and it's very good, and easy to install. Additionally, there is an open source project called phpvirtualbox (http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpvirtualbox/) which gives you a good copy of the desktop UI in a web page to manage VirtualBox.

Joe

 

[rodjames]

You could put asterisk on your pfsense box and put incredible gui on there to manage it using a vhost