Raspberry Pi alternative

[ZoomTechnologies]

Hi All, not sure if i've posted this in the right area, please advise if not.

We have been using Raspberry Pi 4 as our SBC, however here in NZ we are finding the Raspberry PI's extremely hard to order as they are always on back order for months on end.

My question is: Can anyone recommend an alternative that will do the same job for around the same price level
We need this to be a reliable & tested option.

Thanks
Carl

 

[ChrisC_3CX]

We need this to be a reliable & tested option.

Just want to be clear that what hardware was tested and is supported by 3CX is anything that complies with our hardware requirements found here: https://www.3cx.com/docs/recommended-hardware-specifications-for-3cx/

So I would recommend you research based on the above information. If any other community members reading this have anything specific to recommend please feel free to pitch in. Ideally of course something that falls within our guidelines.

 

[Lee Cramman]

The proper answer, drop it into a correctly spec'd VM or onto bare metal that is within spec for running a 3CX PBX.

The not proper answer, it's very well optimised and unless you have a large number of endpoints it will pretty much run on a potato, although I doubt if root vegetables are supported or fall within 3CX guidelines .

 

[pmterp]

Following to see if anyone offers any specific recommendations.
Our experience here in the US has been the same. So far we've been able to get a Pi4 8GB when needed but we've paid up to $200 to get them.
We have so far avoided using a Pi4s with less than 8GB of RAM but according to the specs, the 2GB version should be adequate for up to 100 devices and those have been more readily available.

 

[SteveITS]

Since Raspberry doesn't support upgrading its OS (without reinstall) we have been strongly considering using VMs going forward. We've used one in our office for a couple years. If a VM ever can't run it can be easily installed with the same IP on another computer. Otherwise we have a few clients "stuck" on Raspbian 9. It doesn't make a lot of monetary sense to go on site and reinstall, as it's (normally) not much more to ship a new one.

 

[Lee Cramman]

I struggle to make a specific recommendation as, in a pinch, I've never had any PC from the last 5 years that's Debian capable fail to work flawlessly first time. If there is a delay in getting a Pi to site I'll drop a repurposed PC in just to get my endpoints configured and replace it with a Pi later on.

If there was already a VM host with spare capacity (or 2 if I wanted a failover cluster) I would probably go that way rather than the Pi.

I do sometimes wish 3CX supported a dockerized SBC...

 

[NickD_3CX]

We have so far avoided using a Pi4s with less than 8GB of RAM but according to the specs, the 2GB version should be adequate for up to 100 devices and those have been more readily available.

As Raspberry Pis are a separate case, the specs we recommend for them are listed here:
https://www.3cx.com/docs/installing-pbx-raspberry-pi/

So I wouldn't recommend a RPi4 with 2GB, go for either the 4GB or 8GB variants.

 

[pmterp]

As Raspberry Pis are a separate case, the specs we recommend for them are listed here:
https://www.3cx.com/docs/installing-pbx-raspberry-pi/

So I wouldn't recommend a RPi4 with 2GB, go for either the 4GB or 8GB variants.

Thank you for clarifying that.