“AsteriskNOW™ is Software Appliance; a customized Linux distribution that includes Asterisk®, the AsteriskGUI™, and all other software needed for an Asterisk system”. “Asterisk is a hybrid TDM and packet voice PBX (Private Branch eXchange) and IVR platform with ACD functionality. It acts as middleware between the Internet (IAX, SIP, MGCP, Skinny, H.323), telephony channels (like Zaptel, T1, PRI, E1, FXO, FXS, VoIP, VoFR, ISDN, modems, Internet Phone Jack, etc.), and applications (like voice-mail, conferencing, directories, MP3 players, intercoms, etc.).”
Origin - Home Page: USA - AsteriskNOW
Management Interface: Console CLI and Web-based Asterisk GUI
Price: There is a free and Open Source. There is also a premium version - AsteriskNOW Business Edition - with software updates and support available from Digium, Inc.
Comments: AsteriskNOW can be installed via a text-based or GUI installer. The installer has support for creating LVM partitions, but it is not the default. A firewall is integrated and enabled by default. While it is possible to administrate AsteriskNOW via console CLI or Web-based GUI, the CLI mode is also accessible from within the graphical user interface.
The free and Open Source version, which is the version used for this post has, in addition to a host of other features, configuration backup and restore.
Download/Buy: The latest stable version is AsteriskNOW-1.0.2, and iso images for 32- and 64-bit architectures are available for download here. AsteriskNOW is free, but AsteriskNOW Business Edition can be purchased with support from Digium.
