Re: [Ekiga-list] Peer to peer VoIP.

[Jānis Rukšāns <thedogfarted gmail com>]

Hi Peter

2009/3/25  <peasthope shaw ca>:
> Michel Memeteau wrote,
> "... SIP server ..."
>
> OK.  Given that SIP is based upon a server-client
> model

Actually, SIP is peer-to-peer protocol. If you know that a person you
want to call is running Ekiga (or any other SIP client) on a machine
that has a particular IP, you can make a call to sip:<IP address> and
the INVITE will be sent to that IP. In the case of domain names DNS
NAPTR and SRV queries are used to determine the IP address(es).

Now what's the advantage of calling sip:user example com over
sip:user home box example com? Because in the latter case you're tied
to a particular location(s) that are listed in DNS records. With SIP
server in the middle, the INVITE is sent to the server and the server
decides where to forward it, those even can be multiple locations at
the same time. And once the call has been established, the rest of the
communication is peer-to-peer anyway (well it actually depends on
various things).

-- 
Ian