I am looking at getting a Dell server for a client to run their small Asterisk installation. The system currently runs on a clone server but that is now getting a little sick so I was wondering what experiences anyone had with Dell kit. The server will only need to handle five users and, as a rule, no more than 2 concurrent calls. It needs also to be able to run a tdm400 card correctly as it currently “pips” every few minutes in the exisiting server. This I believe is due to sharing interrupts but you cannot change the way they are allocated on the exisiting board. I am currently looking at the Poweredge 840 but am open to suggestions, we are aiming to keep prices tight hence the 840.
If asterisk is all this will be doing, you are probably wasting your money. Find any old machine that doesn’t have IRQ issues. My main Asterisk box (for my business) is a P2-300 I dug up- up for months at a time w/out reboots and handles at least 10 channes (all into a meetme) without a hickup.
Understood, forgot to mention it will also be handling file sharing and VPN access for a couple of remote users. Wanted to get a new box in there to make sure that the kit is 100% solid as they spend most of the day on the phone and while not too many concurrent calls theres always someone talking. Plus we spent some time messing with the old server and they just want to get a new box so it’s more reliable.
shoot for something that powerful, you should install VMWARE on it and run other applications as a virtual server. That would be a waste of money to have a Monster running 5 extensions.
yeah then go for it, but remember you won’t need much. I would recommend against running asterisk inside vmware, this often works but can also often intruduce odd issues…
I run a full asterisk VOIP envrinment here and have had no issues with Dell Servers. Because of their support I would HIGHLY rec. using them in mission critical environments.
There are many resources on how to configure Dell servers so they work well with the Digium cards… If you read them you will have no problems.
[quote=“danursuline”]I run a full asterisk VOIP envrinment here and have had no issues with Dell Servers. Because of their support I would HIGHLY rec. using them in mission critical environments.
There are many resources on how to configure Dell servers so they work well with the Digium cards… If you read them you will have no problems.
