What is the greenest way to deploy 3CX?

[Alex@One2Call]

Not for a specific customer, just a general thought that I thought you guys might have some input on!

What are the main things to consider when deploying for low environmental impact?

 

[leejor]

Deploy used sets (and other hardware where possible), and use a low power server (Raspberry Pi?)? Maybe run it on solar, and batteries

 

[Evolute IT]

Maybe run it on solar, and batteries

Or with a windmill

 

[jasit]

using softphones instead of deskphones,

 

[Clément Rousseau]

telco cant be really green ^^
but yes as Jasit said, use softphone for users who use a computer for work. 3CX smartphone application for smartphone users. Use forward to mobile can be an option if users already have phone from company. Reducing number of devices is the easy way to be more green.

I am not sure if raspberry pi consume less than a small vm. Share same wan connection with data link can be an option too. All depends on how many users do you have on site.

 

[Alex@One2Call]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes I was wondering what woud use more power, given the same spec, a VM or Rasp Pi (or other low powr machine)? Shold be VM shouldn't it, as it should only consume the exact amount of power the VM/3CX requires, whereas a Pi requires a certain amount just to run stably - is this a wrong presumption?

Defo softphone too, as even with old/recon sets, they're still usually using power even when not in use. Moreso that whatever power is used to run 3CX app in background, anyway, I would've thought.

I like the idea of running on solar/wind, or how about a bike in the corner of the office with a dyanmo - 1hr each during office hours?!

 

[cobaltit]

Yes I was wondering what woud use more power, given the same spec, a VM or Rasp Pi (or other low powr machine)? Shold be VM shouldn't it, as it should only consume the exact amount of power the VM/3CX requires, whereas a Pi requires a certain amount just to run stably - is this a wrong presumption?

So if you were actually serious about this you would already know the answer to this question and it wouldn't have to be a presumption..

Manufacturers publish power specs for anything electronic and there are several devices (such as a Kill A Watt meter) to measure actual consumption if you really want to figure out it but it's really an exercise in futility. I doubt you will be deploying 3CX at a scale to make any significant impact, you can you likely do more for the environment by buying a stainless steel straw and use that for the rest of your life instead of a plastic straw rather than figure out the difference in power consumption between a VM and a Pi.

 

[Alex@One2Call]

@cobaltit

"So if you were actually serious about this you would already know the answer to this question and it wouldn't have to be a presumption" - so you can therefore logically deduce mylevel of seriousness!

It was just a thought prompted by a customer who had bought their last system based on power consumption but has replaced with 3CX without even asking about it. I thought it might be a bit of fun!

"it's really an exercise in futility" - do you mean because there's so little difference between the two, or because you consider the savings insignificant when compared to the environmental impact of other human activity?

 

[leejor]

If you really want to delve into this you'd also probably want to consider to consider how the electricity used, is generated. Is it better to install 3CX locally because the local power is primarily solar, wind and/or Hydro? Whereas the power used at a remote server, virtual installation, may be generated by coal, or nuclear, or vice versa. Running a small server, switch, modem and sets, will probably be a few hundred watts, give or take. Compare that with running a refrigerator, something we all have at home, and probably in the office.

My concern would be wasting electricity, running things that don't need to be on. Having people turn off lights when they leave a room would probably save more, than is used for the PBX.

 

[Alex@One2Call]

@leejor
Thanks - that's a really good point. Put the server where the energy is green.

I hear what everyone is saying re: small PBX use is a drop in the ocean, but it's a useful thing to consider in eveything we do.

Thanks all.

 

[cobaltit]

"it's really an exercise in futility" - do you mean because there's so little difference between the two, or because you consider the savings insignificant when compared to the environmental impact of other human activity?

Yes. Customers ask silly questions all the time, and often need to be gently guided back to reality. The time invested to determine the potential cost savings or environmental impact (or both) is just better invested elsewhere. The simple answer would be to use a cloud provider. That is an industry that is always evolving to save costs and power is a huge factor. They are utilizing the greenest methods (that scale) already in their design aspects, and new data centers are built where they can take advantage of cheaper power (hydro-electric typically) and colder environments to reduce cooling costs.

It's like water bottles. They now have smaller/thinner caps which are marketed as being more environmentally friendly but it's all about cost savings. The monetary benefits happen to align with the environmental benefits.

In this particular case, pretty much any iteration of 3CX is going to use less power than a premise-based system simply because premise systems didn't care about power consumption.