[Kamailio-Users] Dispatcher hash algorithms.

I am curious, what exactly is the purpose and philosophy of the various hash algorithms in the dispatcher module? I am referring to the ones that allow the gateway in the route set to be determined through a hash of various SIP headers, such as the From URI, the To URI, the Call-ID GUID, etc. No guarantee of fair distribution - or in fact, any distribution that can be characterised by any describable pattern whatsoever - is implied by these algorithms. Additionally, it seems that without knowing (1) The exact hash algorithm in use; (2) The distribution that this hash algorithm would yield for a given set of possible values of these header fields, which in many cases are specifically intended to be pseudorandom (e.g. Call-ID), there is absolutely no way to determine, from any meaningfully deterministic perspective, which numerical entry in the route set these algorithms would computationally yield. So, I guess my question is: With no implied uniformity or weighting in the distribution whatsoever based on the incidental character of such values, what practical use does it serve to use any algorithms except round-robin or random? Is it expected that the user will plot the hash values against a log of given input strings to determine how the distribution will shape up? Is there some reason why the sort of profoundly lopsided distribution that may create might be desirable? Thanks, -- Alex Balashov Evariste Systems Web : http://www.evaristesys.com/ Tel : (+1) (678) 954-0670 Direct : (+1) (678) 954-0671 Mobile : (+1) (706) 338-8599