ASTERISK VS FREESWITCH Comparison:

ASTERISK VS FREESWITCH Comparison?

When it comes to open source PBX phone systems, there are two competing underlying switches that tend to steal the show, these being FREESWITCH and Asterisk.

In this FREESWITCH versus Asterisk article we will provide an overview of each switch and take a look at some of the core features and how they differ. We will also review some of the most popular PBX systems that are built on top of each switch.

ASTERISK:-

Asterisk began because of the efforts from a computer Engineer by the name of Mark Spencer in 1999. His small team developed the Asterisk software switch under the label of Linux Support Systems that later re-branded as Digium. Since then, the Asterisk switch has been adapted into a wide variety of PBX systems such as FREESWITCH, Elastix and PBX in a Flash. It is worth pointing out here that Asterisk is really an open source PBX in its own right and can be used as a standalone phone system.

FREESWITCH:-

FreeSWITCH began when a reputable Asterisk developer by the name of Anthony Minessale decided to fix some of the perceived issues of the Asterisk platform. This resulted in a ground-up build for what eventually became known as FREESWITCH. The project was announced in 2006 and eventually got off the ground in 2007. FREESWITCH is a true open source software switch and the two largest platforms utilizing FreeSWITCH as its switching core are sipXcom (which started as sipXecs) and FusionPBX.

Hardware and Software Requirements:-

Hardware requirements are difficult to precisely quantify because each system (i.e. each PBX that utilizes the underlying switch) has different goals it is trying to achieve, so the requirements can vary considerably. However, we have to start somewhere and Table 1 below is a reasonable minimum starting point for a given PBX with up to 15 phone extensions and 5 concurrent calls.

Lower specifications than those stated may well work for very light systems but such a system will provide very limited capabilities. The recommendation for a minimal install should only apply to a test machine, as a production systems should always have additional margin on top of peak load conditions (50% ideally). As the number of phone extensions and functionality grows, so too should your overall system performance in terms of processing power and memory, not to mention bandwidth.

Switch Requirement	Asterisk	FREESWITCH
Processor	Single Core, at least 700MHz	Single Core, at least 1GHz
RAM	512MB	1GB
Storage	10GB	10GB
Operating              System	Linux based, 32 or 64 bit	Linux based, 64 bit

Popular Software PBXs Based on FREESWITCH and Asterisk:-

we list many of the popular open source software PBXs available on the market today and state their underlying switch, in other words, whether it is Asterisk or FREESWITCH based. These systems are all free to download and use, though you are bound by the GPL license, so keep this in mind if you are making design changes to the underlying software.

WhichVoIP.com has many in-depth guides for the popular PBXs in the marketplace.

Summary for Asterisk Versus FREESWITCH:-

To summarize our analysis above, Table 3 provides the high level view on where each switch stands out.

Function	Asterisk	FREESWITCH
Small server footprint in terms of processing and memory capabilities.	YES	NO
Longevity and support mechanisms. Access to forums, documentation, gateway configurations, quick bug fixes etc.	YES	NO
Large database of end device templates for auto provisioning (i.e. IP phones and soft phones).	YES	NO
Feature rich platforms with advanced features such as call recording, meet-me conferencing, chat.	YES	YES
Multi-tenant platform where each tenant (customer) is segregated.	NO	YES
Increased capabilities for maximizing concurrent calls, given the same underlying hardware.	NO	YES
Clustering capabilities to split functions up per installation (e.g. one installation handles conferencing).	NO	YES

Conclusion:--

From a functionality standpoint, there are few differentiation when comparing an Asterisk switch and FREESWITCH. With a proper setup, end users will most likely not see much of a difference between either system implementation, though in my experience I tend to prefer the look and feel of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) for FREESWITCH systems, for example FusionPBX.

At some level, Asterisk is much easier to work with. Since it is a predecessor to FREESWITCH in a very primal sense, the sheer fact the system is older (and well received) means much more documentation, especially with respect to forums and user base. As FREESWITCH is a newer adaptation of a similar idea, it tends to be a little more difficult to troubleshoot since there are fewer technical guides and less users providing assistance. It should be said though that the actual FREESWITCH documentation is decent and has plenty of example XML code.

Both systems are relatively easy to install and configure (especially if you follow our guides). Asterisk can be run on primitive hardware but for a high end PBX that can handle a large volume of concurrent calls, FREESWITCH based systems tend to win.

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