SBC Use

[JakeHoughton]

Hello,

We are deploying a system with around 50 handsets across 3/4 sites. On one site we are installing 39 handsets, do I need to install an SBC at this locations as well as the other locations?

Thanks

 

[Alphabetic]

Hi

You can deploy SBCs are your remote sites for easy of configuration.

Raspberry Pi can support up to 30 phones with 10 BLF keys each so you should maybe purchase 2 and split the load. Alternatively, dedicated a Windows PC as your SBC to support 100 EXT/SC and 1000 BLFs.

I'd personally go for Pi's as they're inexpensive. And having mulitple will provide more than 1 point of failure so you wont take all 39 phones down at once if one SBC dies.

 

[JakeHoughton]

Hi,

Would we need an SBC as the customer is asking for the system to be fully hosted and not require any additional on site hardware.

Thanks

 

[AWS2P]

3CX solution is hardware on site based, no SBC cloud solution is provided and supported with 3CX

 

[JakeHoughton]

3CX solution is hardware on site based, no SBC cloud solution is provided and supported with 3CX

So even if we have a site 2 handsets on we should but an SBC in?

 

[Alphabetic]

You'd have to look at setting up a VPN between the sites and the PBX then.

Unless you wanted to STUN all phones then port forward to all phones... which is not fun at all and isnt worth the time when dealing with a large deployment. Does your cloud host offer a VPN to them? otherwise you'll have to look at open source VPN.

So even if we have a site 2 handsets on we should but an SBC in?

You could probably get away with having 2 phones on STUN without having to port forward. However, if you came across problems you'd have to port forward or SBC it.

There are stories on here of users using cloud based SBC but i wouldnt know who with.

 

[JakeHoughton]

You'd have to look at setting up a VPN between the sites and the PBX then.

Unless you wanted to STUN all phones then port forward to all phones... which is not fun at all and isnt worth the time when dealing with a large deployment. Does your cloud host offer a VPN to them? otherwise you'll have to look at open source VPN.

You could probably get away with having 2 phones on STUN without having to port forward. However, if you came across problems you'd have to port forward or SBC it.

There are stories on here of users using cloud based SBC but i wouldnt know who with.

We use Azure so I dont really know I will have a look into the VPN option?

Thanks

 

[Alphabetic]

We use Azure so I dont really know I will have a look into the VPN option?

Thanks

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/services/vpn-gateway/

Here's a good start.

 

[JakeHoughton]

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/services/vpn-gateway/

Here's a good start.

Thanks for that, so if we setup a VPN between the PBX and the site we wouldn't need the SBC on site really?

Thanks

 

[Alphabetic]

In theory yes.

you will be able to connect your phones to the IP of the PBX over the VPN.

 

[hogan71088]

They don't want an SBC piece of hardware on site but yet they already have a network switch to power their phones and a hardware firewall to create a VPN to the cloud. What happens if one of them fail? They will be down either way...

 

[JakeHoughton]

They don't want an SBC piece of hardware on site but yet they already have a network switch to power their phones and a hardware firewall to create a VPN to the cloud. What happens if one of them fail? They will be down either way...

I am aware if one of the other pieces of hardware fails then they will be down obviously, they just want to know if we need an SBC on site.

Thanks

 

[Alphabetic]

best thing you could do is to stick in some SBCs.

it'll be easier all round and you wont have to learn or pay for Azure VPN.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Hi Jake,

1.) A VPN you could say is a best case scenario if you have the hardware for it, since the phones appear local, and you don't have to setup a separate SBC machine / VM. You need to be proficient in setting up VPNs to ensure all necessary traffic will reach its destination. Good for very large deployments.

2.) SBCs make provisioning, management, and SIP/RTP transport easy, reliable, and secure. No VPN required and they can traverse NAT using a single port. They are also immune to SIP ALG that many firewalls have and can mess up your VoIP traffic. You can set it up on anything from a VM to Raspberry Pi 3B+ or a full blown pc using our provided images. Good for large to medium deployments, but scalable to any size if needed.

3.) As for STUN, I would say you can get away with it for 1-2 phones but you have to enable static port forwards for both phones, and each you would need unique non-overlapping SIP and RTP ports (which can be a bit of a pain to manage). It would also be less secure because the traffic is not encrypted, and SIP ALG on a firewall can mess with it causing unexpected behavior sometimes. Good for just a few phones or non critical phones.

So there you go, 3 solutions for your cloud PBX, pick the best one accordingly.

 

[cobaltit]

@JakeHoughton Might want to watch this for a refresher.

https://www.3cx.com/3cxacademy/videos/intermediate/configuring-remote-extensions/