TelcoBridges SBC

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Latest revision as of 15:16, 31 March 2023

TelcoBridges designs, develops and manufactures carrier-grade telecommunications software and hardware.

From its headquarters in Boucherville (Montreal), QC, CANADA, TelcoBridges performs R&D as well as assembly and testing of its products. TelcoBridges brands include: ProSBC, FreeSBC, Tmedia, Tsig, Ttrans, Tdev, and Tmonitor. These products answer the needs of session border controllers, VoIP gateways, telecom solution development platforms, and real-time network monitoring.

With deployments in more than 100 countries worldwide, TelcoBridges strives to continuously provide the highest standards of Stability, Reliability, and Integrity. To minimise the Total Cost of Ownership [TCO] ,TelcoBridges gateways offer the world’s highest density gateways in the smallest form factor possible, and efficient modern power modules.

TelcoBridges flagship products are ProSBC and FreeSBC virtual session-border-controllers and Tmedia VoIP media Gateways. These products answer the needs of session border control, VoIP gateways, telecom solution development platforms, and real-time network monitoring.

FreeSBC & ProSBC

The TelcoBridges FreeSBC and ProSBC are Session Border Controller (SBC) products that provide security, an ease of deployment, IP network adaptation, and peering solutions.

They are software upgradeable from 500 to 60,000 sessions (or 30,000 with 100% transcoding), the ProSBC is the most cost-effective SBC product for service providers and carriers currently available on the market that combines solid protection, IP-to-IP network adaptation, and fast setup time in a single solution.

Characteristics of the FreeSBC and ProSBC

• Back-to-back user agent (B2BUA)
• DOS/DDOS protection, dynamic blacklisting and call access control
• Easy to deploy, operate and manage through various interfaces including a RESTful API
• Integrated network troubleshooting tools (traces, media/signaling recording, test call generation, etc)
• Flexible and extensive routing with SIP headers modification capabilities
• Fit to install on cloud or virtual environment or on baremetal servers

Additional features of ProSBC

• Up to 60,000 simultaneous signaling and media sessions
• Media transcoding
• OSS/BSS Connectors like SNMP, Lawful interception, Radius, CDR
• Call trace and other debugging tools
• TLS/sRTP

For full list of features see: https://freesbc.telcobridges.com/pricing/

Installation (Baremetal)

IMPORTANT: Due to the complex nature of this setup and its multiple environments, the user should check TelcoBridges's documentation or get directly in contact with TelcoBridges for guidance and troubleshooting in case of any configuration issue or question with their respective platform. VoIP.ms will be able to provide only information about their respective network rules and settings.

It is recommended that the configuration of the system is performed by an IT network engineer, a System Administrator, or a person otherwise familiar with SBCs and/or their respective platform.

Requirements

Minimal server requirements:

1. 64-bit server
2. USB key for installation (or Optical disk drive)
3. One Ethernet interface for management
4. One or more Ethernet interfaces for SBC processing (LAN/WAN). Must be in the List of supported NICs
5. Two Ethernet interfaces, if a 1+1 configuration is required
6. Console access through serial port or keyboard/monitor ports or other (i.e. Dell iDrac)
7. Support for the "Legacy BIOS mode with MBR partition" or UEFI (UEFI support new with version 3.1.117)
8. BIOS setup for maximum performance (no dynamic CPU throttling)

Getting the license and the ISO

In order to get a FreeSBC or ProSBC license and the download links to the ISO, you need to create an account to be able to access Telcobridge's customer dashboard.

You can use this link to log in or to register for a new account: https://dashboard.telcobridges.com/dashboard

To see instructions about how to register and generate the license check the Customer Dashboard User Guide

Installing the ISO

After you have downloaded the ISO create a bootable unit to install it on your server. On Windows, Rufus is known to work with the FreeSBC & ProSBC ISO, however, any similar application should work.

Once the unit is ready with the ISO file, plug it on your server and boot from that drive.

 The installation process will reformat the server's disks and install all the necessary software.

Then the "Virtual Appliance Installer" menu should be displayed:

Press the 'R' key followed by the 'ENTER' key to start the installation

Wait for the installation process to complete. When the installation is complete, the server will automatically reboot.

 IMPORTANT: Make sure to remove the unit from the drive while the server is rebooting. 
 If you get back to "Virtual Appliance Installer", just eject the CD or remove the USB flash drive and reboot again.

It may take a couple of minutes for the system to be brought up after the first reboot. Until the Web Portal is accessible, you must not reboot the newly created machine to allow the installation to complete properly.

Assigning the IP address

By default, all detected network interfaces will have DHCP enabled. This means, the server might already have an IP address assigned, if the network has a DHCP server running. In this case, you can display and use it to access the web portal configuration panel.

Use this command to retrieve an IP address assigned by DHCP

 # ifconfig

Use the following shell command to change your Ethernet interface address:

 # tbchangeip

Accessing the SBC web portal

Once you have retrieved or defined the IP address of the server, open a web browser and go to that IP address on port 12358.

 For example, if your server's IP is 192.168.0.58, the URL would be http://192.168.0.58:12358

Web Portal Initial Configuration

Before you begin

The initial configuration of the SBC is carried out by accessing a configuration wizard in a web browser (Chrome, Firefox or other). Before you begin, you must have the following information on hand:

• Product key: In the following VTB-XXX-XXXX format. If you do not have this key, please go to our ProSBC Download site .
• Hostname of the unit. It is important to set the host name correctly and to not modify it later, otherwise you will need a new license.
• Will the system be used as a standalone unit or in a Primary/Secondary configuration?
• Does the system require external transcoding? For example, G.711 to G.729a transcoding
• The role of each of the network interface.

Once you have this information, proceed as described in the following procedures:

Initial configuration of ProSBC or FreeSBC

Access the SBC through its IP address and a configuration wizard will be displayed.

On the first screen, click on Continue.

Accept the EULA agreement.

Enter your activation key and hostname

Enter your SSH and WEB root password

 Make sure to note them down somewhere as you'll need them to initiate your server and access the SBC's Web Portal.

Select the configuration of your SBC. Either standalone, or in a Primary/Secondary configuration.

If the system requires external transcoding, select it here. As an example, if the system needs G.711 to G.729a transcoding, then select yes.

In this window, you define the role of the network adapters in the system. The following is a short description of each type:

• mgmt: Used for management of the system (suggested name: mgmt0)
• ctrl0: Used for communication with the external transcoding devices (suggested name: ctrl0)
• ctrl1: Same as ctrl0. Adds redundancy (suggested name: ctrl1)
• LAN/WAN: SIP/RTP access to private network (suggested name: LAN0) or public network (suggested name: WAN0)

When you are done, click Continue.

A Confirmation window is displayed. If you are satisfied with the configuration, click Confirm.

A warning message will be displayed alerting you to the possible interruption of the IP interfaces when the change is applied.

After the configuration is complete, you must reboot the system.

 IMPORTANT: Once the configuration is completed, you will be asked to retrieve the license seed of this unit to allow for the installation of the license.
 To learn how to do this refer to: Generating license seed

SIP Trunk configuration

The SIP Trunking Configuration turotial provides you with a scenario-based approach to configure a ProSBC system and monitor its status, using the Web Portal configuration tool. Complete general installation configuration steps, before you begin configuring your specific application.

SIP Trunk configuration guide

To see a guide example of SIP Trunk configuration on FreeSBC & ProSBC please refer to SIP Trunking Example

How to - SIP Trunking tutorial video

To watch a tutorial video explained by TelcoBridges experts refer to FreeSBC How To - SIP Trunking

Configuring SIP Registration to VoIP.ms

Overview

Telcobridges supports registering a SIP NAP to a SIP proxy. You can use this capacity to register your FreeSBC or ProSBC to a VoIP.ms server to use it as a SIP Proxy for your PBX or telephony network.

Registration authenticates TelcoBridges product's IP address with a VoIP.ms server and this will allow SIP traffic from the Telcobridges product to pass through the VoIP.ms network.

Setting SIP Registration to VoIP.ms in NAP configuration

 IMPORTANT: Make sure to have read and followed the SIP Trunk configuration recommended by Telcobridges before setting up the SIP registration to VoIP.ms. 
 Refer to the section SIP Trunk Configuration for this.

1. Create the NAP for the VoIP.ms registration

SIP registration to VoIP.ms can be configured on the NAP editing page. You can find this on the left side menu of FreeSBC or ProSBC.

Once on the NAP configuration page, you can click on Create New NAP or click on an existing one to add the SIP registration configuration details of VoIP.ms.

2. Enter the VoIP.ms configuration

 IMPORTANT:To use the domain name of the server you have to properly configure DNS in the SBC.
 Refer to the DNS configuration guide for more information.

In the Editing NAP settings enter the following information:

• Name: Any name of your choice (Preferably one that will let you know this is the VoIP.ms NAP).
• Proxy Address: Enter the IP address or domain name of the VoIP.ms server where you will register the NAP.
• Proxy port: 5060 (VoIP.ms also supports 5080 and 42872 but the SBC must be configured accordingly if you want to use a different port)

Then, under Registration Parameters and Authentication Parameters set the following:

• Register to Proxy: Checked.
• Address to register: sip:SIP_Account_Username@YourPrefered_VoIPms_Server (E.g. [email protected])
• Ignore realm: Checked
• Realm: Your Prefered VoIP.ms server name or IP address(E.g. atlanta1.voip.ms or 208.100.60.17)
• User: Your Main or Sub Account SIP username
• Password: The password of your main or sub account

Finally, under Access Control, assign the Port range and SIP Transport servers that this NAP will work on.

 These should have been defined during the SIP Trunk configuration. 
 Refer to the section SIP Trunk Configuration for more details.

Click on the Save button when done and your NAP will register in the VoIP.ms server.

Guide links

TelcoBridges Contact information.

FreeSBC & VoIPms ProSBC:VoIP.ms

FreeSBC & ProSBC installation instructions for any instance.

FreeSBC & ProSBC complete initial configuration guide.

FreeSBC & ProSBC complete ProSBC:SIP Trunking:Configuration guides.