[Asterisk-Users] Best performing CPU for G.729 codec?

[Steven Critchfield]

On Wed, 2003-10-22 at 09:40, Chris Ziomkowski wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I need to build a machine capable of running at least 30 G.729 channels 
> with lots of room to spare because it will be doing some other CPU 
> intensive tasks also.

Maybe you need to become more aquainted with asterisk. Pushing a system
to near the limit is inviting disaster. You may need to reconsider the
other tasks on this machine.

> I've seen Mark's post about being able to run 60 channels on a dual 1.8 
> Xeon, but that unfortunately raises more questions than it answers.
> 
> You see, I may have to build many of these systems, and I need to find a 
> good price/performance ratio, I can't simply go out and buy quad opteron 
> systems for fun.  I was trying to find a processor for under $200 to handle 
> this.

$200 will get you a 2.6 P4 right now.  2 1.8s are just over your $200
request. It will be as important to make sure you have a good
motherboard and chipset.

> Given that, my question is: what constrains the G.729 codec? Is it mostly 
> due to branches (implying a dual CPU or P4 HT architecture will be 
> required) or is it mostly due to floating point (in which case a lower 
> speed AMD might be able to accomplish the same task cheaper and better.)
> 
> Anyone have any ideas on this? Looking for feedback.

I think you will be running a lot of threads, so the extra cache and
speed helps.

> BTW, can someone answer how the G.729 licensing works? If I change the CPU 
> and motherboard (probably necessitating a kernel change), will my licenses 
> still be valid? What exactly are they keyed to?

It is hardware based. If you change any of the major hardware, it will
bark.

-- 
Steven Critchfield  <critch at basesys.com>