Any advantage in using Server 2003/2008?

[rzkesp]

I would like to be frugal as possible with this setup. I have servers with Server 2003/2008 Standard that I can use, but I really do not want to spare their operating system / licenses / etc for the sake of a phone system which doesn't need any of the Windows Server services in fact. I'd fear running anything except the bare minimum provided and keep myself from ever getting a wild notion to make it a redundant DNS server or something. :lol:

So this is the question:
Would I lose anything, at all, by deciding to slap Windows 7 Professional on there and securing it down and reducing the services running to a bare minimum? I assume all hardware, connectivity, and functionality is the same. Microsoft limits the number of active CIFS connections to the system, but I am doubting that this is a factor in 3CX.

I am new to this system: in fact I am just quoting it today. I will experiment with it sometime this week.

So I really want to do my homework. If I have to dump the extra bucks for a true-server-OS, I will without a doubt. So do me a favor and tell me why or why not to use Windows Server 2008. Doing this will allow me to buy a new rackmount box for this system rather than repurposing the old "redundant" domain controller box that I decided to take down three months ago.

Thank you in advance!

 

[netswork]

Good question. I myself do not have an answer for that but will be interested in the replies from others. I run our system on server 2008. We are an IT services company and we get copies of server for internal use. We are about to move forward with some sales/installations for customers and the choice of OS is a big question for us.

I like the idea of the server OS for the stability and less bloat. Of course you could remove a lot of things and only run services you absolutely need. You would have to disable UAC for sure. I know its supported on XP, I am not certain about windows 7.

 

[davidbenwell]

I dont think there is any real advantage other then being able to have unlimited connections if using the IIS web server.

 

[willow]

I perfer the server OS as it is more suited for a software solution that needs to be always on. I find that windows xp and 7 sometimes need reboots just make things work properly again. But as always cost is a big factor when the customer purchases the system.

 

[dannybrook]

If the server is dedicated to only running 3CX, I almost always deploy the web server edition of Windows server, unless the customer has extra licenses of Standard. You can get 2008 R2 Web Server for around $350 which fits very nicely in between Standard and Windows 7 pro.

I prefer using IIS in all 3CX deployments as I am very familiar with it and can troubleshoot issues with greater ease. The only thing to keep in mind is the customer must have configurable DHCP (ability to setup DHCP options) running elsewhere on the network because the web server edition only support two server roles, IIS and DNS.

 

[davidbenwell]

has anyone had any issues installing 3CX on web server edition ?

 

[[email protected]]

We prefer Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation, great value for money and includes all needed services (DHCP, DNS etc.).

 

[eagle2]

I would also recommend and prefer MS Windows 2008 R2 Foundation Server -- it is moderate as price, especially when bundled with some servers (HP, etc.) and very reliable -- more than W7 or XP.

 

[ecwilson]

IMUO You will allways want to run a server OS on any application that is running 24/7/365 and you never want to
skimp out on your phone system server. Win7 and the other desktop OS's were never made to run 24/7 we have a few
workstation with win7 enterprise running 24/7. They do need to be restarted just to keep things in order and if you do
run win7 plan your downtime (restart & patches)? :mrgreen:

ecwilson

 

[netswork]

FYI foundation is only valid for networks with less than 15 users if your going to join it to a domain or make it a domain controller. I am not sure how it functions if you dont join it to a domain with regards to how many phones you can have.

The webserver edition sounds promising. Is there anything not in webserver edition that you need for 3cx? Generally our customers have other servers to handle domain functions so we dont need it to do anything other than run IIS and 3cx.

 

[eagle2]

This is a very interesting and important topic about Windows licensing.

I'm not sure that you need an user license (CAL, etc.) on Windows server for each 3CX extension, regardless of being a soft-phone or a hardware one, neither for running MyPhone application on user PC. The last may be related to the local setup and where the user PC is logging (domain, etc.).

There shouldn't be a MS license breach if running 3CX PhoneSystem on MS Windows 2008R2 Foundation Server and having as many extensions as you want (more than 15), and also more than 15 users running MyPhone.

There could be other issues related to Foundation Server being part of domain. I don't see a problem leaving a 3CX Phone System based on Foundation Server as standalone server in the network, without being part of any domain, or being a domain controller, etc. Please correct me if I'm not right.

Regards,

 

[netswork]

I agree with you on the CAL's. Say you had a microsoft IIS web server, you would not need a CAL for each potential person visiting a website.

So if you wanted to use foundation as a standalone server I dont see why it would not work for more than 15 phones. The 15 user limit is only in play when the server is a domain controller.

Only drawback is that it comes OEM only...but if you were buying a server for the customers 3cx install anyway, it could be a big cost savings vs 2008 R2 full version.