Greg,
How do you think it would be best to start a "best practices" document? My feelings are that to make the most impact a fully functional ser.cfg for a real world SIP proxy should be the basis because most folks on serusers are just looking for a quick "how do I" answer.
I'd like to think that if I just posted my ser.cfg then the ball would be rolling on this, however, I doubt that would happen for several reasons:
* I'm not 100% convinced that my ser.cfg is error free.
* I doubt I've done things exactly correct (ie, I'm sure there are better way to do some things I've done).
* I've got many inline comments, but a much deeper explaination of key areas of my configuration are needed.
* My ser.cfg is deeply dependent on external factors, such as our slightly modified version of Asterisk, which we only use for voicemail. So I don't think just seeing the ser.cfg would answer too many questions regarding how MWI works without including Asterisk integration documentation.
Anyhow, that said I believe that an initial "best practices" document would need to focus on these key areas:
* Basic ser.cfg structure * Database usage (enabling/using MySQL) * NAT traversal * PSTN integration (ie, gateways) * Asterisk integration for voicemail only (no call routing logic)
I think that this would solve many of the postings that appear on serusers frequently.
Regards, Paul
On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 11:46:58 +0100, Greger V. Teigre greger@teigre.com wrote:
Thanks for your initiative, Paul.
I suggested in a previous post that a simple FAQ list could be created on the iptel.org site pointing to posts on mail.iptel.org that addressed commonly asked questions. Seeing the initiative now on TLS, I realize that maybe the only way to get something going is to do something, submit it in some way, and then people will start to relate to it. Thus, I suggest that you, if you have the capacity to do so, submit a starting point for a such a best practice document. I will promise to review and contribute where I can add value. If people fancy the document, it will be in the interest of the core developers to submit their input ("priority by relevance").
My company has decided to offer to host a "best practice site" (if it isof interest to the community) where the document, reference ser.cfgs, as well as links to posts, resources, other people's non-cvs modules etc can be presented. I find voip-info.org to be a good resource, but picture a more structured and edited approach to complement and provide easy access to resources. Ser is an excellent open source software, but IMHO the project has not yet matured enough to be taken seriously for large service providers (without somebody like us presenting . Those of us who make a living that includes ser should really collaborate to make ser as best as possible and (an even more) viable alternative to commercial software. We can and should compete on other things than who can make the ser.cfg work...
The core developers are doing an excellent job, and I believe the bestway we can help them out is to start initiatives and see if they catch on. I think it's in everybody's interest to build a large and stable community around ser. I see several initiatives now that point in the right direction, as well as areas where work is needed:
- "Best practice" initiative from Paul
- My initiative suggesting a new website in this post
- Andreas' work on scalability (discussed recently on this list)
- The TLS initiative
- Need for a viable, scalable voicemail implementation
- Need for a scalability/redundancy reference design including load
balancing/multiple server centers
- Need for database support beyond open-source DBs (ODBC/JDBC/LDAP)
- Need for access to a repository of modules (beyond those in CVS). Can be
addressed on my suggested website
- Need for more application level integration/capabilities (SIP Servlets,
JAIN, etc)
- and probably many more
Well, let's start small. There is a lot of activity and implementations that are being done, partially exposed here on serusers/serdev. By exposing and coordinating these efforts publicly, people can concentrate on new and even more exciting things than just figuring out how to handle NAT... g-)
Java Rockx wrote:
Guys,
Since I just made very substantial changes to my ser.cfg I'd like to test my full feature set before sharing it. I'm going to put a new post on serusers_at_iptel.org in a day or two seeking comments on establishing a "best practices" document for ser.cfg and in that post I'll attach my ser.cfg which perhaps could be used as a basis for beginning a dialog on this subject.
At a minimum I'd like to see a more complete and complex ser.cfg for which other can base their work.
The problem with this is that it would require take some feedback from the ser core team to ensure the "best practices" are correct and properly reflect the designers intent. The reason I think this could be a problem is that Andrei, Jiri, Jan, and company are more than busy already.
The bottom line is that as great as ser is, coding practices are mostly a mystry to developers seeking to install ser and when you get in to complex functionality such as call forwarding confusion stumps many users.
Regards, Paul
On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 19:59:31 +0100 (CET), Medve Istvan imedve@ew.hu wrote:
Perhaps I'll post my entire ser.cfg this week for anyone that wants it.
Please send it to me.
Thanks, imedve
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