[asterisk-users] New Tutorial: Asterisk on EPIA VIA C3

[Alan Lord]

Tzafrir Cohen wrote:
<snip />
> 
> You can easily take a standard distro and remove all the services you
> don't really need.
> 

Yes, but you can't easily change the way the apps are built or setup, 
e.g. compiler optimisations, use of initrd when not necessary, kernel 
bloat just to accommodate "any" host.

>> Consider that I have running concurrently on my little C7 with 1G of RAM 
>> (That I have *down-clocked* to 1Ghz):
> 
> One major point: one of the cool advantages of the VIA CPUs is that it
> can be run fanless. In your setup you couple it with a large HD, and
> hence your system has moving parts.

No. Fanless is useful, but it is power consumption I am more interested 
in. A typical AMD/Intel desktop processor will now chew upwards of 
100W. That's without the mobo and external components. Also, can you 
find 300Gb of solid state storage for about £30. ;-)

> 
>> * Asterisk,
>> * Samba,
>> * Java/Tomcat:
>> 	*Cosmo Calendar Server
>> 	*ConcursiveSuiteCRM
>> 	*Alfresco
>> 	*OpenBravo
>> * PostgreSQL,
>> * MySQL,
>> * Exim,
>> * Apache,
>> * Vtiger, SugarCRM, A few Joomla! instances,
>> * Subversion Server
>> * sshd,
>> * ntpd,
> 
> Now, why would you run all of those things on the same system?
> 

Because it is for home use where there is low, but relatively constant 
load (my wife and I both have home offices). Some of the apps are for 
testing/evaluation so do not get used heavily and will not last very 
long. I just wanted to show what is possible with a sub £100 7Watt piece 
of hardware.

> Asterisk needs a responsive system. It will not play along well if you
> add heavy-duty file serving to the system, as the system will spend too
> much time serving files (in kernel space).

I have not experienced *any* performance issues - so far. And uptime is 
permanent - until I reboot as I've installed a new kernel or something.

> Oh, and practically all of those can be installed as standard Debian
> packages, without a need for such a lengthy installation manual. 

Yes, they can. But I might not like where and how Debian (for example) 
decides how and where they install and setup those apps. They also do 
not use the most up-to-date versions and you are in their hands about 
when and how to upgrade.

I bet that in 1/2 a year after you install it, you'll end up with a system
> with quite a few known security holes. But you'll never bother fixing
> them.

How much ;-)

Seriously, if I find or notice for a major bug/hole it is trivial to 
update. I keep all my installation procedures noted (or scripted) so it 
is pretty easy just to a CMMI with a new version.

I wouldn't recommend this route for everyone. But being a control freak 
I know what and where *everything* is on my server... I don't have that 
level of control when using a mainstream distro. Sudo apt-get install is 
nice, but you are totally ignorant about what's going on under the 
hood... Hey that sounds just like Windows! lol.

Cheers

Al


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