Xorcom has commenced shipping its Astribank 2 channel banks. The new models feature support for the TwinStarT full redundancy solution for complete Asterisk-based PBX systems, including telephony interfaces, which was awarded the "Best of Show" award in the On-site Product Launch category at the IT Expo held earlier this year. The enhanced system architecture in Astribank 2 now enables field-upgrades via a sophisticated licensing system, allowing activation of additional digital ports in existing modules to provide customers with the highest possible flexibility in scaling up their system.

TwinStar - High Availability Solution for Complete Asterisk-based Systems
TwinStarT is a high availability solution for Asterisk-based PBX systems. TwinStar provides automatic detection of server failure and immediate switching of all telephony functions, including telephony interfaces, to a back-up server. This quick and automatic failover process keeps downtime to an absolute minimum.

The TwinStar solution is comprised of two Asterisk servers with identical configurations, and Xorcom Astribank 2 channel banks featuring dual USB ports. It features:

1. Full dual-server redundancy for complete Asterisk PBX systems, including telephony interfaces
2. Automatic detection of server failure and switching to backup server, within minutes
3. Firmware-based switching mechanism that is not network-dependent


New Licensing Mechanism Supports Remote Activation of Ports and Features
A new software-driven licensing mechanism allows an increased number of possible configurations. From now on, all BRI and PRI (R2) modules will be capable of supporting up to 8 and 4 ports respectively. As a result, any PRI (R2)/BRI unit in which not all ports are active at purchase may be upgraded remotely to activate more ports. In addition, each Astribank unit is "TwinStar-ready", and can be upgraded remotely to enable this feature. Visitors to the Xorcom Web site can use the on-line Product Configurator to get an immediate suggestion of the best configuration to meet their needs.

Activating the New Astribank Units
Both Zaptel and the new DAHDI Asterisk drivers are supported in all Xorcom products. Until the new Astribank drivers reach all the distributions, the latest drivers from Xorcom are available for download from the Xorcom Web site in order to activate the new Astribank units. When appropriate software packages are installed, it is possible to use combinations of the old (Astribank) and the new (Astribank 2) devices connected to the same Asterisk server.

Cost-Effective Telephony Expansion in a Compact Unit
The Astribank channel bank provides businesses a tremendous opportunity for expansion at a fraction of the traditional cost of telephony equipment. The Astribank driver has been included as an official part of Zaptel (now DAHDI) since release 1.2.4, making Astribank interoperable with all current Asterisk PBX. The Astribank channel bank supports up to 32 analog ports, up to 8 BRI ports, and up to 144 PRI + FXS/FXO analog ports on a 19" 1U box (144 = quad E1 + 24 analog ports), high speed USB 2 connectivity, full support for fax machines, hot swappable architecture, and is rack- or wall- mountable.