provided by Star2Billing S.L.

Hi all,

I would like to install A2BILLING on two servers for a calling card service. What my requirement is to run the same service in failover mechanism and sync both servers so that once primary gone down secondary will take up.

1. If I need to install elastix coupled with A2B how the network should be placed. Do i need to go for DRDB or any other ways.

2. Is it possible to have the same A2B DB on both servers in real time sync.

2. How to make one server primary so that the IVR will be played from the server and the A2B DB synced with the secondary and ready to take over when the primary gone down.

The number of calls in a server will be not more than 60 so that one server can handle the total calls and the secondary can be idle. Only need is if the primary gone down secondary should be ready to take charge.

I highly appreciate the talented people of A2B to respond to this query and thanks in advance. This will be a real helpful to implement the service and will make me relieved.

Thanks in advance,

Fahim

There are a number of ways of introducing redundancy, however, how much you spend on redundancy should depend on the revenue per hour, and the number of hours it would take you to build a replacement from scratch, and restore the backup.

In other words, the greater the traffic, the more more money you have to spend.

At the Rolls-Royce end you have HA and DRBD, which is automatic. It is not easy to install, and even less easy bring the primary back online when there is a failure, and therefore this should only be done by someone who is completely comfortable with this - or pay www.linbit.com to do it for you. Their costs are about €1000 Euro per install of HA and DRBD, so if your revenue is about €1000 to €2000 plus per day, then it is worthwhile paying the money, if it isn't then consider cheaper options, which may result in some downtime, but is affordable, from warm standby upwards.

Joe

Dear Joe,

Thanks for the reply. I understood your point on the revenue/downtime side and I completely agree with it. Thanks for notifying it.

1. Can you please tell me what kind of redundancy you propose? Is it possible to run separate MYSQL DB server which has raid function and point 2 A2B servers (runs on Elastix) to that server.

2. Can we have 2 A2B servers which has identical config and keep it ready to be plugged. When the failure occurred in the primary remove the network cable from SW and plug the secondary. Will this work as primary since the DB is in a different server. If this is possible how to sync the settings of primary in secondary.

Please help me with a solution with the maximum redundancy and minimum complexity possible. I hope the answer will help lot so members here and the new people a lot.

Thanks in advance,

Fahim

Hi

1. In respect of point 1, yes you can point multiple asterisk servers at one A2Billing database.

2. In respect of point 2, this is simply a case of doing a mysqldump on the primary, an SCP to the other server, and then an import of the data at intervals to the secondary database. on failure, swap the IP addresses of the failed and the standby.

The MySQL Dump could be done from the remote server.

Joe

Can we automate the sync process in both servers by plugging the direct cable in addition NICs. I have seen this in some cases. If so what is the utility you would recommend.

Thanks in advance,

Fahim

I think you are describing HA and DRBD, which syncs via a crossover cable.

However, a simple shell script should suffice for a warm standby, with a cronjob.

Joe