Hosted Versus Dedicated SIP Trunking for OCS and other SIP systems

Review the animated tutorial before reading
sip-trunk-4types-ipsec-mpls2.swf

There will be many "flavors" of SIP trunks. Here are some examples:
1 - Public Internet - performance and security based on WAN connection - via hosted SIP trunks from a provider
2 - Private MPLS-Multi-Protocol Label Switching-VPN-Virtual Private Network used for customers with several sites and not visible for other customers via a private dedicated circuits
3 - Over IPSec VPNs for more security - requires key management, IPSec-IP Security implementation, real-time encryption & decryption, and potential multiple networks
4 - With TLS-Transport Layer Security and SRTP-Secure Real-time Transport Protocol used for highly secure situations. This is where Port Level Security or TLS-Transport Layer Security takes place. That is, control access by the Port Number such as deny or access to Port 5060-5061 for SIP or access to any other function. This is called a Stateful Inspection for a firewall to check, alert or audit the status (state) of the TCP connection - SYN, SYN-ACK or FIN.

In summary, depending on your own network strategy, security requirements and flexibility will drive whether you build or buy.

About OCS Forum

This tutorial is provided by TECHtionary.com and OCSForum.com sponsor of
OCS Forum 2010 Expo - June 15-16 - Boulder, Colorado. OCS Forum is a vendor-independent laboratory environment designed for learning, technical guides, knowledge resources and online "live" services. OCS Forum provides planning, project management, consulting, training, case studies, white papers, speaking engagements, market/customer research, network planning and other services. For more go to http://www.ocsforum.com. Call Tom Cross 303-594-1694 or cross@gocross.com for more information and scheduling.