3cx Hardware

[bboyd]

We have been using the 3cx system for almost 2 years now and am looking at committing and buying the licensed version. I am going to start out with the 4 line but will be wanting to upgrade to the 16 with the same setup. I have been running it no problems on a cookie-cutter HP desktop but if I am going to go and buy the full feature software I want to spend a little on the computer to get it in peak performance.

Besides the computer requirements 3cx has to have what has been everyone's thoughts on better performance on the hardware side?

 

[leejor]

That is a very broad question. Everyone's network is different. A lot can depend on how you use your phones and what other traffic runs over the same network (bandwidth usage).

If you have not yet encountered any voice quality issues thus far, that could be attributed to latency or bandwidth, then, unless traffic (VoIP and data) increases substantially, you are probably good for a while before having to invest in any other hardware upgrades. There is not much point in buying more equipment now if everything runs fine. Prices keep dropping, so it makes sense to carry on unless you plan some dramatic changes in the immediate future.

 

[jpillow]

I agree with Leejor if you have been running on this same machine for two years with no issue you dont have to make a change as the active license isnt goting to tax the system much more than now. Though if there is any particular reason higher usage etc... You should spec out your system accordingly.

 

[bboyd]

I need to use the computer it is on elsewhere right now that is why I am needing to reinstall 3cx on a different computer. And since I was going to build a new one myself anyways I wanted to get some ideas on what is the best thing to run it on besides 3cx's specs and what is worth spending a little extra money and what is not.

 

[leejor]

The majority of desktops, sold pre-packaged these days (Dual/Quad core/4-8 GB memory/500GB-1TB drive) will handle small to medium installations of 3CX with no issues. I would just avoid the bargain basement, "starter" PC's . Obviously, if you make a lot of use of voicemail, and retain the messages for long periods, then things like hard drive size would be a consideration.

 

[cfive]

I don't have anything larger than a 16SC install. They are installed on various hardware platforms and in use, I don't see an difference really.

low-mid range laptops - advantages: small, quiet, inexpensive, built in backup power supply, bulit in sound card (if you make use of line-in). These would typically come with i3 or better processor which is more than required for 3CX. If you're going to run a server OS, drivers can sometimes be an issue. Check the NIC speed as well - for some reason many laptops will not have GB NIC - and this can be useful for things like backup, etc.

HPMicroserver - advantages: small, quiet, inexpensive, 4 drive bays, raid1 capable, 2 PCI slots available, BIOS level remote access card available, server OS supported, up to 8 GB ram. These have proven to be reliable boxes - add decent HDD's, and a decent UPS and with the remote access option you can do a complete bare metal restore from a remote location if need be .

 

[bboyd]

Thanks for all that cfive. To be honest I never really thought about a laptop, I have several of those lying around here that are not being used.

 

[craigreilly]

I have a 64 license version on a Mac Mini with Parallels.
No issues here.

 

[jpillow]

The majority of our licenses we have installed are 8sc, we have a two clients (very small offices 1 location 5 phones, the other 6) that actually run 3cx on laptops with no issues as again they are very small installs. We typically use SFF machines with dual core processors and 3g-8g of ram, and if a client does any call recording its more cost effective to simply hook up an external hard drive and point all recordings to that device this is something we have on our system to record all calls, and about 4 clients all use the external hard drive. From our experiecne I rarely see machines we send out use more than 5% cpu usage, we usually use more RAM than needed but RAMS cheap and we yet to have a hardward issue (performance) yet. hope thiss helps.