FAQ

Server requirements (specs), and can I use a dedicated server from a vendor like Amazon or whatever?

Of course. Server requirements depend on what you would like to do with Tangaza. A powerful server with hard lines into a data center will mean lower latency (maybe not though - see point 8), support for more simultaneous users and so on. A USB modem plugged into the laptop with a GPRS connection for Internet as might be the case in a disaster relief situation will not be as reliable, support less simultaneous users and so on. I suppose the minimum necessary to run Tangaza is 128MB RAM and a broadband Internet Connection (for external VoIP lines) but even the external internet is not necessary if you have one of these. If you do look at this

OS required on the server and Windows compatibility.

Tangaza runs on Linux. It has been tested only on Debian based distros. There is however nothing Linux specific about it. Asterisk and indeed all the software is available for Windows so hopefully our community will work on that

Security and firewalls, can Tangaza work behind these and are there some specific transmission protocols that must be opened

This is an example on how to configure a Linux IPTables firewall for Asterisk:

#IP on UDP port 5060. Other SIP servers may need TCP port 5060 as well

iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 5060 -j ACCEPT

# IAX2- the IAX protocol

iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 4569 -j ACCEPT

# IAX - most have switched to IAX v2, or ought to

iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 5036 -j ACCEPT

# RTP - the media stream

# (related to the port range in /etc/asterisk/rtp.conf)

iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 10000:20000 -j ACCEPT

# MGCP - if you use media gateway control protocol in your configuration

iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 2727 -j ACCEPT

Required SW packages that need to be installed before we even begin the Tangaza installation (ie Apache, Tomcat, Postgres, MySQL, Django, Perl, or whatever)

These requirements show the minimum versions of software that the system has been tested with and that are required to successfully run.

Perl 5

Python 2.6

MySQL 5.0

Django 1.2

Kannel 1.4.3

Asterisk 1.6.2

Common Library (http://github.com/tangaza/Common)

**How come the Common Folder is empty after I run the setup. Common exists as a submodule and will not be fetched along with the main Tangaza tree. You need to make sure that the Common submodule is also fetched by running the following commands:

1. git submodule init

2. git submodule update

Any other requirements, meaning if I have a windows laptop (yes, windows) will this work ? Can I set the laptop behind an ISP ? do I need a unique Internet IP address ? can I just plug in my Ethernet cable on the laptop and expect this to work ? Do I need to open any sockets for data exchange and communication

See point 2. Behind an ISP is OK - in an operators data center is even better. If you want to Web Administration Interface you need a fixed IP but you can just as easily use 127.0.0.1 if you do not have one. If you have built and installed the .deb package it should work. If you can get an IAX connection from an operator to route the calls from their data center to your Tangaza (asterisk) instance that is best

Next what about the phone line ? Where do I connect the E1 line to ? Is the soft pbx box some additional hardware that must be bought ? If so does that need additional configuration.

An E1 is normally a card which is placed in the server (like an ethernet card). Asterisk needs no additional hardware to run. So the steps are:

• Select Your Telephony Hardware (E1 card, broadband, ISDN, GSM Modem etc)
• Install Linux & check out, then build the Tangaza debian package
• Configure Asterisk and Kannel (depends on the first point)

What about the SMSC ? How is that specified and how do you request that ? Who configures the SMSC and the SMS Gateway and Logic?

Tangaza uses Kannel so you need to configure this. We have tested used a USB GSM modem and Tangaza works fine. Some operators offer SMS with Toll Free number packages.

Point 8

We have run tests using an EC2 instance in Ireland from NTN mobile operator in Uganda. The current ping time (latency) is too high for Tangaza to be usable. This may change (at least for Africa) in the future as there are rumors of a South Africa Amazon data centre