[asterisk-users] searching for compatible servers

[Gary G. Hendershot]

Everyone is going to have their sacred cow on this one so suspect you might
have opened a can of worms ...
 
I can tell you that I have very good results using a number of different
Intel based SuperMicro servers ... these seem to be very mundane and
extremely well behaved ... I have used both Digium and Sangoma cards in them
(TDM only, have not tried T1's or ISDN)  ...  my only beef with them is that
they seem rather noisy (very loud cooling fans) ...
 
I have also used a couple entry level Intel based Dell servers with good
results and can tell you that these seem to be a good bit quieter than the
SuperMicro ... however, the quality of construction and components used on
the Dell seems inferior to the SuperMicro ...
 
I have also used a couple mid range HP servers with good results ... the HP
is very nicely made and seems to be a notch above the SuperMicro in terms of
overall quality of construction and components used ... however, they are
about 20% more expensive in similar configuration ...
 
I have had good results using the new 300mb SATA Raid setup from Adaptec ...
I normally use CentOS as my OS and the installation utility finds the
controller and could not be any simpler ... would expect similar with most
RedHat based Linux flavors ... in general, have always had good luck with
Adaptec drive controllers ...  just be careful to use SATA drives that are
specifically intended for use in a RAID, not common workstation drives ...
there is a difference and it can bite you in the hind quarters if you buy
the wrong type of hard drives and try to use them in a RAID ...
 
Did recently have some trouble with an Intel 1gb NIC ... this surprised me
... I have always favored Intel NIC's mainly because I am lazy and the OS
just seemed to find them without having to jump through any hoops ... but
this fancy new server class 1gb Intel NIC required that I hunt down and
install a unique driver for a CentOS 4.x install ... but this was an odd
ball ... most 10/100 and older 1gb Intel NIC's have worked without issue for
me ...  have had generally good experience with 3Com and Realtec also ...
 
I think the only server class hardware that I recall giving me fits was an
ancient Compaq server that someone gave me ... I messed with that one for a
week or so on and off and never did get the darn thing to run Linux let
alone Asterisk ...
 
As far as I can tell, the only really temperamental aspect is TDM cards from
Digium ... while the cards are generally of decent quality, they seem to be
a bit picky about what kind of PCI slot they will work with ... so far, this
has not been a major problem for me as the hardware I used is purposely very
mundane ... but with the published compatibility list hopelessly out of
date, you stand some risk of buying a server with a motherboard that the
Digium TDM card will not take to ... I have NEVER heard of this problem with
Sangoma cards ... 
 
Most of my installs these days are on embedded hardware ... I favor the
Astlinux flavor of Asterisk and like my PBX's to be small, fanless, lean and
mean ... for these I have tried a number of fanless type barebones systems
and finally settled on the Lex Neo/Twister models as being my production
standard ... these are VIA C3 1ghz machines that are similar to a Mini-Itx
... 

the Lex Twister model will handle a Digium TDM card nicely and still have
room for a 2.5 in hard drive if you want one ... the Lex Neo has no card
slot so is not suggested if you want a PCI card that supports connection to
the PSTN, but will take a 2.5 in hard drive ... both models have 3+ Realtec
NIC's built in which works well with Astlinux when used in router/firewall
mode ...  With Astlinux, I normally boot off a CF card and forego the moving
parts associated with the hard drive but to each his own ...
 
anyway, them's my 2 cents ...
 
Regards
 
G.Hendershot

________________________________

From: Hart Green [mailto:HGreen at benchmark-systems.com] 
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 11:55 AM
To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com
Subject: [asterisk-users] searching for compatible servers



 

Im trying to find the best hardware to run asterisk on.  I see that the
compatibility list is a little dated.  Any recommendations out there?  This
is for a 19 phone system with 2 tdm cards.

 

Thanks 

 

Hart Green


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