Re: Modem as a service?
Have you looked into scheduled scans with WarVOX? On Dec 6, 2015 7:39 PM, "James Laszko" <jamesl@mythostech.com> wrote: We are looking to automate testing of OOB modem connections when our NMS detects a site connection failure. Rather than have a live body call a modem number (or even a fax) to see if it answers (to determine if there is a potential site power issue), we'd like to be able to utilize some "Modem as a service" to automate this. I've exhausted my Google skills trying to see if anything like this exists. Anyone have any experience? Thank you, James Laszko Mythos Technology Inc jamesl@mythostech.com<mailto:jamesl@mythostech.com>
It looks like WarVOX has been rolled into Metasploit…. I guess using SIP trunking could accomplish the same thing – we don’t need to actually connect to the OOB modem on the other side, we just need a NO ANSWER/ANSWER kind of response. I will investigate SIP software to accomplish this, unless someone has quick pointers? ☺ Thank you, James From: Bacon Zombie [mailto:baconzombie@gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2015 10:59 To: James Laszko Cc: nanog@nanog.org Subject: Re: Modem as a service? Have you looked into scheduled scans with WarVOX? On Dec 6, 2015 7:39 PM, "James Laszko" <jamesl@mythostech.com<mailto:jamesl@mythostech.com>> wrote: We are looking to automate testing of OOB modem connections when our NMS detects a site connection failure. Rather than have a live body call a modem number (or even a fax) to see if it answers (to determine if there is a potential site power issue), we'd like to be able to utilize some "Modem as a service" to automate this. I've exhausted my Google skills trying to see if anything like this exists. Anyone have any experience? Thank you, James Laszko Mythos Technology Inc jamesl@mythostech.com<mailto:jamesl@mythostech.com><mailto:jamesl@mythostech.com<mailto:jamesl@mythostech.com>>
On Dec 6, 2015, at 2:19 PM, James Laszko <jamesl@mythostech.com> wrote:
... we don’t need to actually connect to the OOB modem on the other side, we just need a NO ANSWER/ANSWER kind of response. …
Forget modems - to probe via some kind of analog connection, just get a single instrument wireless telephone with answering capability. For a bonus, put some kind of identifier in the answering message: No power > no answer; power > answer. James R. Cutler James.cutler@consultant.com PGP keys at http://pgp.mit.edu
On Sun, 2015-12-06 at 16:36 -0500, James R Cutler wrote:
On Dec 6, 2015, at 2:19 PM, James Laszko <jamesl@mythostech.com> wrote:
... we don’t need to actually connect to the OOB modem on the other side, we just need a NO ANSWER/ANSWER kind of response. …
Forget modems - to probe via some kind of analog connection, just get a single instrument wireless telephone with answering capability. For a bonus, put some kind of identifier in the answering message: No power > no answer; power > answer.
I must be thick - how does that solve the problem? The OP wants to know if a modem at a remote site will answer the phone. Maybe I misunderstood the problem. Regards, K. -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Karl Auer (kauer@biplane.com.au) http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer http://twitter.com/kauer389 GPG fingerprint: 3C41 82BE A9E7 99A1 B931 5AE7 7638 0147 2C3C 2AC4 Old fingerprint: EC67 61E2 C2F6 EB55 884B E129 072B 0AF0 72AA 9882
Nah, it wasn't you! :) The solution I think we're going to go with is leveraging our existing SIP infrastructure and write scripts to dial out to the OOB Modem / Fax machines at the sites that are disconnected from the network. If they both don’t answer, we'll assume a power outage. If one or the other does answer, it'll queue up for human interaction. I wrote a script in Perl in about 15 minutes to do this. God, I'm not sure if I'm stuck thinking inside or outside the box anymore! Thanks for the replies and insights, James -----Original Message----- From: NANOG [mailto:nanog-bounces@nanog.org] On Behalf Of Karl Auer Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2015 14:17 To: nanog@nanog.org Subject: Re: Modem as a service? On Sun, 2015-12-06 at 16:36 -0500, James R Cutler wrote:
On Dec 6, 2015, at 2:19 PM, James Laszko <jamesl@mythostech.com> wrote:
... we don’t need to actually connect to the OOB modem on the other side, we just need a NO ANSWER/ANSWER kind of response. …
Forget modems - to probe via some kind of analog connection, just get a single instrument wireless telephone with answering capability. For a bonus, put some kind of identifier in the answering message: No power > no answer; power > answer.
I must be thick - how does that solve the problem? The OP wants to know if a modem at a remote site will answer the phone. Maybe I misunderstood the problem. Regards, K. -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Karl Auer (kauer@biplane.com.au) http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer http://twitter.com/kauer389 GPG fingerprint: 3C41 82BE A9E7 99A1 B931 5AE7 7638 0147 2C3C 2AC4 Old fingerprint: EC67 61E2 C2F6 EB55 884B E129 072B 0AF0 72AA 9882
You could always just use UPS equipment that can send out alerts on power outages and low bat voltage. Or, use equipment that supports dying gasp. On Dec 6, 2015 4:31 PM, "James Laszko" <jamesl@mythostech.com> wrote:
Nah, it wasn't you! :)
The solution I think we're going to go with is leveraging our existing SIP infrastructure and write scripts to dial out to the OOB Modem / Fax machines at the sites that are disconnected from the network. If they both don’t answer, we'll assume a power outage. If one or the other does answer, it'll queue up for human interaction.
I wrote a script in Perl in about 15 minutes to do this. God, I'm not sure if I'm stuck thinking inside or outside the box anymore!
Thanks for the replies and insights,
James
-----Original Message----- From: NANOG [mailto:nanog-bounces@nanog.org] On Behalf Of Karl Auer Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2015 14:17 To: nanog@nanog.org Subject: Re: Modem as a service?
On Sun, 2015-12-06 at 16:36 -0500, James R Cutler wrote:
On Dec 6, 2015, at 2:19 PM, James Laszko <jamesl@mythostech.com> wrote:
... we don’t need to actually connect to the OOB modem on the other side, we just need a NO ANSWER/ANSWER kind of response. …
Forget modems - to probe via some kind of analog connection, just get a single instrument wireless telephone with answering capability. For a bonus, put some kind of identifier in the answering message: No power > no answer; power > answer.
I must be thick - how does that solve the problem? The OP wants to know if a modem at a remote site will answer the phone. Maybe I misunderstood the problem.
Regards, K.
-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Karl Auer (kauer@biplane.com.au) http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer http://twitter.com/kauer389
GPG fingerprint: 3C41 82BE A9E7 99A1 B931 5AE7 7638 0147 2C3C 2AC4 Old fingerprint: EC67 61E2 C2F6 EB55 884B E129 072B 0AF0 72AA 9882
On Sun, 2015-12-06 at 18:13 -0600, Josh Reynolds wrote:
You could always just use UPS equipment that can send out alerts on power outages and low bat voltage. Or, use equipment that supports dying gasp.
The equipment you have needs to be able to send the alert, which means SMS or email-capable equipment needs to stay powered up long enough to do that. There might be a product idea here, if no-one's done it already: Something like a RaspBerry Pi, running off a lithium battery, with a recharge circuit and something to detect a power outage. Add a 3G/4G card to send an SMS alert, put it all in a box, plug it into power. Only configuration needed is setting the SMS target(s)... If you made it network addressable (on 3G/4G) it could send emails as well. Regards, K. -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Karl Auer (kauer@biplane.com.au) http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer http://twitter.com/kauer389 GPG fingerprint: 3C41 82BE A9E7 99A1 B931 5AE7 7638 0147 2C3C 2AC4 Old fingerprint: EC67 61E2 C2F6 EB55 884B E129 072B 0AF0 72AA 9882
What about a $20 android phone, when it detects a power loss (stops charging), send an sms. On Mon, Dec 07, 2015 at 12:03:48PM +1100, Karl Auer wrote:
On Sun, 2015-12-06 at 18:13 -0600, Josh Reynolds wrote:
You could always just use UPS equipment that can send out alerts on power outages and low bat voltage. Or, use equipment that supports dying gasp.
The equipment you have needs to be able to send the alert, which means SMS or email-capable equipment needs to stay powered up long enough to do that.
There might be a product idea here, if no-one's done it already: Something like a RaspBerry Pi, running off a lithium battery, with a recharge circuit and something to detect a power outage. Add a 3G/4G card to send an SMS alert, put it all in a box, plug it into power. Only configuration needed is setting the SMS target(s)... If you made it network addressable (on 3G/4G) it could send emails as well.
Regards, K.
-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Karl Auer (kauer@biplane.com.au) http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer http://twitter.com/kauer389
GPG fingerprint: 3C41 82BE A9E7 99A1 B931 5AE7 7638 0147 2C3C 2AC4 Old fingerprint: EC67 61E2 C2F6 EB55 884B E129 072B 0AF0 72AA 9882
There are already devices that are doing this like PowerTxT, it may be based off another company I may add but we are using them for OOB monitoring of power for remote sites. They have just enough power in the capacitors to send a text message to a master number or gateway for an NMS. Have a look at http://www.tekview-solutions.com/powertxt.php Regards, Hal Ponton Senior Network Engineer Buzcom / FibreWiFi Tel: 07429 979 217 Email: hal@buzcom.net
On 7 Dec 2015, at 01:07, b <b-nanog@grmbl.net> wrote:
What about a $20 android phone, when it detects a power loss (stops charging), send an sms.
On Mon, Dec 07, 2015 at 12:03:48PM +1100, Karl Auer wrote:
On Sun, 2015-12-06 at 18:13 -0600, Josh Reynolds wrote: You could always just use UPS equipment that can send out alerts on power outages and low bat voltage. Or, use equipment that supports dying gasp.
The equipment you have needs to be able to send the alert, which means SMS or email-capable equipment needs to stay powered up long enough to do that.
There might be a product idea here, if no-one's done it already: Something like a RaspBerry Pi, running off a lithium battery, with a recharge circuit and something to detect a power outage. Add a 3G/4G card to send an SMS alert, put it all in a box, plug it into power. Only configuration needed is setting the SMS target(s)... If you made it network addressable (on 3G/4G) it could send emails as well.
Regards, K.
-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Karl Auer (kauer@biplane.com.au) http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer http://twitter.com/kauer389
GPG fingerprint: 3C41 82BE A9E7 99A1 B931 5AE7 7638 0147 2C3C 2AC4 Old fingerprint: EC67 61E2 C2F6 EB55 884B E129 072B 0AF0 72AA 9882
Apologies, Should have listed the following link as this is suited for the US market whereas the other is European. http://www.tekview-solutions.com/powertxtduo.php Regards, Hal Ponton Senior Network Engineer Buzcom / FibreWiFi Tel: 07429 979 217 Email: hal@buzcom.net
On 7 Dec 2015, at 01:18, Hal Ponton <hal@buzcom.net> wrote:
There are already devices that are doing this like PowerTxT, it may be based off another company I may add but we are using them for OOB monitoring of power for remote sites.
They have just enough power in the capacitors to send a text message to a master number or gateway for an NMS.
Have a look at http://www.tekview-solutions.com/powertxt.php
Regards,
Hal Ponton
Senior Network Engineer
Buzcom / FibreWiFi
Tel: 07429 979 217 Email: hal@buzcom.net
On 7 Dec 2015, at 01:07, b <b-nanog@grmbl.net> wrote:
What about a $20 android phone, when it detects a power loss (stops charging), send an sms.
On Mon, Dec 07, 2015 at 12:03:48PM +1100, Karl Auer wrote: On Sun, 2015-12-06 at 18:13 -0600, Josh Reynolds wrote: You could always just use UPS equipment that can send out alerts on power outages and low bat voltage. Or, use equipment that supports dying gasp.
The equipment you have needs to be able to send the alert, which means SMS or email-capable equipment needs to stay powered up long enough to do that.
There might be a product idea here, if no-one's done it already: Something like a RaspBerry Pi, running off a lithium battery, with a recharge circuit and something to detect a power outage. Add a 3G/4G card to send an SMS alert, put it all in a box, plug it into power. Only configuration needed is setting the SMS target(s)... If you made it network addressable (on 3G/4G) it could send emails as well.
Regards, K.
-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Karl Auer (kauer@biplane.com.au) http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer http://twitter.com/kauer389
GPG fingerprint: 3C41 82BE A9E7 99A1 B931 5AE7 7638 0147 2C3C 2AC4 Old fingerprint: EC67 61E2 C2F6 EB55 884B E129 072B 0AF0 72AA 9882
On Sun, Dec 6, 2015 at 4:03 PM, Karl Auer <kauer@biplane.com.au> wrote:
There might be a product idea here, if no-one's done it already: Something like a RaspBerry Pi, running off a lithium battery, with a recharge circuit and something to detect a power outage. Add a 3G/4G card to send an SMS alert, put it all in a box, plug it into power. Only configuration needed is setting the SMS target(s)... If you made it network addressable (on 3G/4G) it could send emails as well.
Almost exactly my scenario. While you're at it, add IP/serial links to console servers and tunnel in. I've got this as the only OOB option for sites with no copper. Low bandwidth 3G plan. -- Jeremy Austin Whitestone Power & Communications (907) 895-2311 (907) 803-5422 jhaustin@gmail.com
On 12/6/2015 16:17, Karl Auer wrote:
On Sun, 2015-12-06 at 16:36 -0500, James R Cutler wrote:
On Dec 6, 2015, at 2:19 PM, James Laszko <jamesl@mythostech.com> wrote:
... we don’t need to actually connect to the OOB modem on the other side, we just need a NO ANSWER/ANSWER kind of response. …
Forget modems - to probe via some kind of analog connection, just get a single instrument wireless telephone with answering capability. For a bonus, put some kind of identifier in the answering message: No power > no answer; power > answer.
I must be thick - how does that solve the problem? The OP wants to know if a modem at a remote site will answer the phone. Maybe I misunderstood the problem.
I'll join the confusion--I thought the OP wanted to test for power availability at the distant site by seeing if a modem there would answer the phone there. That it HAD to be a modem in that case makes no sense to me. I'm of the line now and have been for a while and maybe y'all don't do things the way we did--we always had an answering machine (two or three in some places*) that always answered on the first ring and gave some kind of status report that was updated hourly on on event). If it did not answer, the power was out. *at one site we had one that gave general status--what's up, what's down, what's generally interesting (outages scheduled soon, where we are in the daily batch cycle). We had another listing southern region outputs ready for pick-up and one listing northern region stuff. -- sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Juvenal)
On Mon, 7 Dec 2015, Larry Sheldon wrote:
I'll join the confusion--I thought the OP wanted to test for power availability at the distant site by seeing if a modem there would answer the phone there. That it HAD to be a modem in that case makes no sense to me.
Presumably, the modems are already there (setup to answer) as a means to access the OOB console servers in the case of a network outage. "Does it answer" is just a simple way to tell "is the power out, and everything's dead, or is there a network problem that's caused us to lose visibility?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jon Lewis, MCP :) | I route | therefore you are _________ http://www.lewis.org/~jlewis/pgp for PGP public key_________
You could easily do this using Twillio. We've done the same thing to test if a PBX is up. On Mon, Dec 7, 2015 at 1:22 PM, Jon Lewis <jlewis@lewis.org> wrote:
On Mon, 7 Dec 2015, Larry Sheldon wrote:
I'll join the confusion--I thought the OP wanted to test for power
availability at the distant site by seeing if a modem there would answer the phone there. That it HAD to be a modem in that case makes no sense to me.
Presumably, the modems are already there (setup to answer) as a means to access the OOB console servers in the case of a network outage. "Does it answer" is just a simple way to tell "is the power out, and everything's dead, or is there a network problem that's caused us to lose visibility?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jon Lewis, MCP :) | I route | therefore you are _________ http://www.lewis.org/~jlewis/pgp for PGP public key_________
-- *Jamie Gwatkin* / Software Developer - DevOps jamie@workshopx.com <fabien@workshopx.com> Inspire creation. www.workshopx.com *Our companies* CanvasPop <http://canvaspop.com/> / CanvasPop API <http://canvaspop.com/photo-printing-api> / DNA11 <http://dna11.com/> / Crated <http://crated.com/> / PopKey <http://popkey.co/>
On Mon, Dec 07, 2015 at 11:54:17AM -0600, Larry Sheldon wrote:
I'll join the confusion--I thought the OP wanted to test for power availability at the distant site by seeing if a modem there would answer the phone there. That it HAD to be a modem in that case makes no sense to me.
I'm of the line now and have been for a while and maybe y'all don't do things the way we did--we always had an answering machine (two or three in some places*) that always answered on the first ring and gave some kind of status report that was updated hourly on on event). If it did not answer, the power was out.
At a client wiring closet, the super-conscientious rack maintainer one day decided that it was good practice to replace consumer-standard batteries during his quarterly cleaning rounds. Answering machines have replaceable batteries. Modems do not. -- Henry Yen <Henry.Yen@Aegis00.com> Aegis Information Systems, Inc. Senior Systems Programmer Hicksville, New York (800) AEGIS-00 x949 1-800-AEGIS-00 (800-234-4700)
participants (12)
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b -
Bacon Zombie -
Hal Ponton -
Henry Yen -
James Laszko -
James R Cutler -
Jamie Gwatkin -
Jeremy Austin -
Jon Lewis -
Josh Reynolds -
Karl Auer -
Larry Sheldon