Operating system name and version: Linux ?
Version of smsd: 3.1.6
Smsd installed from: sources
Name and model of a modem / phone: Multi-Modem - MTCBA-G-F4-NAM
Interface: serial

Hello, To be clear, we are just starting out with this process and have not even installed any software to date, this will performed next week once our 4 modems arrive. We have in operation 2 servers (+back-ups) sites, One site hosts our web pages and the other site has our databases and performance software. We presently use a company for outbound sms and are in the process of changing over to our own modems that will hang-off of 1 (or 2) cpu's (yet to be installed) dedicated for this task.

Additionally, I am NOT an experienced software person, I employ people to do this for me, but I am simply researching in advance what our software developers will need to know.

We need guidance from ground zero. We are acquiring 2 basic cpu's (linux) to strictly perform outbound sms's. Originally the 2nd cpu was to be just a backup, but I have read that running in tandem may be a better option as it will share the wear and tear and one will act as the other's back-up if the other fails.

So here are my questions:

1) What "is" the best configuration? 2 mirrored or 1 as backup?
2) Can someone provide the script(s) for the following...
2A) We want our modems to share the load for outbound-only sms's, starting with 4 modems and we will grow to 64 modems in a short time
2B) If a modem goes down, we need our system to stop sending to it
2C) We need to be alerted if a modem (or anything actually) stops working via sms and email
2D) What other tips can be provided in the configuration of this new software?

I am sorry for my lengthy email
Thank you in advance
Vince

Wince wrote

We presently use a company for outbound sms ...

Probably that company has a direct connection to the Short Message Service Center, and therefore can give you possibility to use some short senders number, or even alphabetic senders name. This can be done with a direct connection, but not with a modem over GSM network. So you will have 4 different senders number, later even 64, and those numbers cannot be changed or set to the same. Have you noticed this limitation? (it's a feature of GSM network, not a limitation in my software )

Also, sending SMS using GSM modem takes some 5 - 9 seconds, typically 6 seconds. Is this fast enough?

I try to answer shortly to your questions ( I'm little bit busy right now ):

Wince wrote

1) What "is" the best configuration? 2 mirrored or 1 as backup?

With several modems, two independent SMS servers is a good choice. Those servers can run watchdog to watch each other and in the case of fatal failure (which may be caused by other process than smstools too), working server can make an alert.

Wince wrote

2) Can someone provide the script(s) for the following...

Some scripts, as an examples, are currently available, but usually large SMS system will need custom scripts.

Wince wrote

2A) We want our modems to share the load for outbound-only sms's, starting with 4 modems and we will grow to 64 modems in a short time

If running Smstools on one server, basically load balancing is not required. This is because all modems can serve the same queue and all of them will pick-up and send messages as fast as possible.

With two or more servers, I recommend to build an application (PHP or something) to the one server, which share the messages to the SMS servers. This is not a heavy load, and can be run on the server which runs Smstools and probably some website too.

Wince wrote

2B) If a modem goes down, we need our system to stop sending to it

A modem, bad one, can be freezed, but also the GSM network can go down for a while. This is not very usual, but happens about once per year here in Finland. With the latest version of Smstools there is a trouble log which can be used to detect failures. This detection should be done using an external script or program. If some failures are detected, the script can send an alert, and notify the sharing application about the issue.

Wince wrote

2C) We need to be alerted if a modem (or anything actually) stops working via sms and email

All processes, modems and many potential failures can be watched and detected by the watchdog script. Any abnormal functionality can produce an alert, but this all requires a custom scripts. Smstools itself has some built-in emergency features, but external programming is needed because Smstools cannot watch itself, of course. For example Smstools can watch the filesystem, and in case of fatal failure Smstools can send an administrative SMS which is sent without using the filesystem.

Wince wrote

2D) What other tips can be provided in the configuration of this new software?

First you could test with a single modem and basic setup if all is working well. If you need status reports (delivery reports), enable them and test.

Wince wrote

I am sorry for my lengthy email

My answer was short and slow, sorry .

One detail might be useful for the future discussion: what is the load? How many messages per hour?