PortaSwitch Start & Grow

• Entry level platform for startups
• Same features as with hi-end platforms
• Scalability with lower initial investment
• Site redundancy option for high availability

PortaSwitch Start & Grow is an entry level telecommunication services and subscriber management platform that does not compromise on functionality and feature set, but however enables ambitious start-up telecommunication service providers to instantly launch, price and provision their services while eliminating high investment requirements.

PortaSwitch Start & Grow shares exactly the same functionality with its bigger brothers PortaSwitch and PortaSwitch Procinctus. It is however smaller and requires less servers.


PortaSwitch Start & Grow consists of 2 elements:

1. PortaBilling100 Start & Grow (B/OSS & OCS), and
2. PortaSIP, a class 4 (SBC) and class 5 SIP softswitch with media application that plays IVR (voice prompts)

PortaSwitch Start & Grow offers many advanced features for calling
cards, retail and wholesale, hosted IP PBX or IP Centrex services such as, for example:

hunt-groups, call forwarding/follow-me, call transfer, group pickup, call parking, NAT traversal, BLF / presence, instant messaging,

web and phone voicemail, teleconferencing, IMAP server for email clients, auto attendant, message waiting, abbreviated dialing, call recording, and automated provisioning of IP phones.

There are 3 main differentials that set apart PortaSwitch Start & Grow and standard PortaSwitch:

1. No SMP and clustering: PortaBilling100 Start & Grow (the core element of PortaSwitch S&G) runs on a single CPU, does not utilize simultaneous multiprocessing, and cannot be clustered;
2. Fewer physical servers: the billing engine and web interface of Start & Grow configuration share the same physical servers with databases and PortaSIP;
3. Affordable HW: the requirements for server specifications are also more modest (see below).

Redundancy

PortaSwitch Start & Grow can be complimented with a redundant site to:

• protect against hosting facility outages
• provide service to multiple geographic regions when network connectivity between them is lost
• perform upgrades to new software versions with zero downtime

The only way to overcome catastrophic events and provide uninterrupted service is to have another set of servers in a different location that can continue operating during the outage at the main site. The only requirement is the sufficient amount of bandwidth between the sites to keep the data replication going.

If the secondary site detects that the main site has become unavailable, the "stand-alone" mode is activated on the secondary site to provide the service to end-users: the billing engine continues to calculate applicable charges according to product, tariff and the responsible party's other billing parameters. All changes to the balance and new xDRs are written into a dedicated database. This allows the billing engine to keep track of already consumed services and avoid a balance overdraft which results in a clear history of all produced charges.

When the primary site becomes available again, these changes are automatically applied to the primary database - and the secondary site is switched back to the stand-by mode. All of this happens automatically, without any need for an administrator involvement.

Licensing

PortaSwitch Start & Grow comes with unlimited and perpetual license which does not depend on the number of concurrent calls, ports, minutes or end-users. There are absolutely no artificial limitations on the code level, and all features and functional modules are included with no exceptions. The license includes:

• Oracle Linux operating system and MySQL database
• Direct access to the database and DB schema description
• Access to extensive XML API to connect with existing web portals
• Ability to develop your own customizations for the product code
• Post-installation configuration, monitoring, and optimization
• Customized training at PortaOne office or client's location
• Complimentary subscription to PortaCare: 24/7 technical support, automated monitoring, and all new feature updates

Hardware Requirements

PortaSwitch Start & Grow requires 3 servers to be installed on:

Server 1: Billing + Main DB server
Server 2: Web + Replica DB + PortaSIP server
Server 3: Configuration server

Below are the minimal requirements for these 3 servers:

CPUs (quad-core): 1
Minimum RAM: 12GB
RAID: 1+0
Minimum Disc Space: 500GB

Please find more information on hardware requirements and about how to choose your servers on a dedicated HW page.

Performance

PortaSwitch Start & Grow has no artificial limitations on the software side and the only thing that limits its performance is the calculating power of the servers it is installed on. Of course, the actual performance will depend on the system's configuration, traffic patterns, and the types of services provided. From our experience the following numbers may be expected, on average:

Performance Indicators	Maximal Values
Call attempts per second	10
Concurrent calls	2,000
Individual customers	25,000
Monthly traffic in minutes	5,000,000

Scalability

Since less computing power is involved in a smaller system with fewer physical servers and also due to the lack of simultaneous multiprocessor support, PortaSwitch Start & Grow is over 3 times less powerful than a standard PortaSwitch configuration. The upgrade from PortaSwitch Start & Grow to standard PortaSwitch or any larger configuration is seamless and requires almost no downtime.