[asterisk-users] Is there real benefits on a SMP machine for Asterisk?

[Matthew J. Roth]

Raúl Gómez C. wrote:
> Thinking about my original post, I was reluctant of installing my PBX 
> on a shared system, is a Dell PowerEdge 2950 with 2 Intel Xeon Dual 
> Core CPUs @2GHz (4 totals cores) and 4GB RAM which serves as Domain 
> Controller and File Server (Samba), central backup server (Bacula with 
> a LTO2 external tape drive), it has dual NIC in a bonding alb mode and 
> redundant PSU (each one connected to a different UPS). It has a PCI 
> slots in which I can install my Sangoma Remora A400D card.
>
> Or its better to install the PBX on a dedicated system? Let me know 
> your opinions!
Raúl,

The short answer is yes, it's better to install Asterisk on a dedicated 
system.  The long answer is that you could probably get away with it, 
but if you have problems you'll be dealing with a lot of variables 
during troubleshooting.  When that time comes, I wouldn't be surprised 
if the first piece of advice people give you is to offload the non-VoIP 
related tasks from the server.

For 35 simultaneous calls, I'd recommend a dedicated server with a 3.0 
GHz dual-core CPU, 2 GB of RAM, and fast SCSI disks.  In my experience, 
the FSB can be just as important as processor speed so keep that in mind 
as you lay out your budget.  You should be able to buy something from 
Dell with redundant power supplies (and other convenient features like a 
remote access controller) for an affordable price.

Regards,

Matthew Roth
InterMedia Marketing Solutions
Software Engineer and Systems Developer