PC Platform under $100

[james]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4514375&sku=C999-50000
An IBM under $100


IBM Netvista A22 6341 Desktop Computer - Intel Celeron 1.2GHz, 256MB, 40GB HDD, CD-ROM, No OS

This would probably do good for a low volume platform...

IBM Netvista A22 6341 Desktop Computer (Off-Lease)
The IBM Netvista A22 6341 Desktop Computer comes with Intel Celeron 1.2GHz processor, 256MB of DDR RAM, a 40 GB hard drive, CD-ROM combo drive, floppy drive, and integrated 10/100 LAN. The IBM Netvista platform is designed for businesses that are focused on affordable pricing coupled with top-level performance.

 

[wardmundy]

The Atlanta Asterisk Users Group has done some work on the minimum requirements for a PBX in a Flash system:

* CPU = Pentium III 863 MHz or greater
* RAM = 512 MB or greater
* HD = 10 GB or greater
* NIC = Ethernet 10Base
* CDROM or DVD reader

While the processor on these machines is probably adequate, I wouldn't recommend running PBX in a Flash with 256MB of RAM. Life's too short.

 

[mbellot]

The Atlanta Asterisk Users Group has done some work on the minimum requirements for a PBX in a Flash system:

* CPU = Pentium III 863 MHz or greater
* RAM = 512 MB or greater
* HD = 10 GB or greater
* NIC = Ethernet 10Base
* CDROM or DVD reader

While the processor on these machines is probably adequate, I wouldn't recommend running PBX in a Flash with 256MB of RAM. Life's too short.

Interesting. I'm running my PIAF system on a PIII 600MHz with 256MB right now...

I intend to upgrade when funds allow, but it seems to be hanging in OK.

 

[dghundt]

great price. That rig reminds me of my old PS2 I used in college. It had two floppy drives which was a tremendous leap forward in technology from one floppy.

 

[hkgonra]

The Atlanta Asterisk Users Group has done some work on the minimum requirements for a PBX in a Flash system:

* CPU = Pentium III 863 MHz or greater
* RAM = 512 MB or greater
* HD = 10 GB or greater
* NIC = Ethernet 10Base
* CDROM or DVD reader

While the processor on these machines is probably adequate, I wouldn't recommend running PBX in a Flash with 256MB of RAM. Life's too short.

I have thrown away many systems better than this just recently.
I wish I had known, I would have offered them up for free here.

 

[jmullinix]

I would not throw the old ones out. Put an extra NIC in them, load PFSense and voila, a great firewall.

 

[jehowe]

.....I'm running my PIAF system on a PIII 600MHz with 256MB right now...

That 10 year old flip-chip ran my first PBX, running A@H 1.2, I think.

 

[hkgonra]

I would not throw the old ones out. Put an extra NIC in them, load PFSense and voila, a great firewall.

I understand that but when you are sitting on 20 of them and the wife has been screaming to clean the garage for two years something has to give.
I offered them up to everyone I knew locally that was into computers but they all said they had the same problem I had and were throwing theirs out as well.

 

[markrmcs]

I understand that but when you are sitting on 20 of them and the wife has been screaming to clean the garage for two years something has to give.
I offered them up to everyone I knew locally that was into computers but they all said they had the same problem I had and were throwing theirs out as well.

I hear you brother....

 

[RizSher]

Interesting. I'm running my PIAF system on a PIII 600MHz with 256MB right now...

I intend to upgrade when funds allow, but it seems to be hanging in OK.

Same here, running PIAF1.4 on a VERY old Gateway P3 laptop at 600Mhz and 256 RAM. Home system, 4 extensions, RARELY have upto 3 concurrent calls, though it does cope with those w/o a problem.

 

[wardmundy]

PIAF 1.4 needs 438MB of RAM for 'normal' operation. This is pretty easy to decipher in a virtual environment such as proxmox.

So... if you only have 256MB, it means Linux is having to use your hard disk to perform some functions that ordinarily would be managed in RAM. It still works, but...

 

[w1ve]

Dell GX280 - Great PIAF machine

There are 1000s of GX280s coming off lease these days. I am buying the small form factor version for about $109 on average. This is a 2.8GHz Hyperthreaded P4... system typically has 512Mb RAM and 40GB SATA Drive. New 1GB sticks of ram can be had fot $13. They make a very nice PIAF pbx.

Gerry

 

[mtennant]

I've recently bought off lease GX260, GX270 and GX280's small form factor machines for as low as $70, delivered, off Ebay. Beware that some don't take full height cards, but some do, using a PCI expander module.

These are exceptional machines, nowhere near the end of their lifecycle, and are great values.

I've only seen one with bad caps. Most are in almost pristine condition. A new hard drive and more memory would be in order for future proofing.

 

[james]

This is the awesome thing about Linux in general is it has the ability to keep systems out of the dump. I use to have a stack of P3's running web servers, 1 site per server and under $50 a server. With Linux you can even cluster them together. I think it is cool you can take a PC that is obsolete by windows standards and create a Firewall, Router, Network Service Server. I sometimes do charity work and save them a ton of $$$ by using Linux and forgotten/undervalued hardware.

 

[real_goose]

I am also concerned about power, noise, and space, so I am experimenting with recycled laptops. Early retirement means I have more time than money. Laptops with P2 and 196MB seem to perform adequately in my simple home hobby environment with a max of 2 calls at a time. I don't see paging, but I'm not really using all the PIAF functions.

 

[mbellot]

PIAF 1.4 needs 438MB of RAM for 'normal' operation. This is pretty easy to decipher in a virtual environment such as proxmox.

What do you consider "normal"?

I don't run an IVR or many of the other "advanced" features.

I have three trunks, half a dozen extensions and added the Ring Groups module. No MOH (beyond the stock config), no queues, etc. I have the FAX module installed, but I don't use faxing more than 2-3 times a year so its normally disabled.

The main admin page usually shows memory usage around 52%, and the CPU in the 5-25% range (with spikes to 100%).

 

[MrBostn]

I am also concerned about power, noise, and space, so I am experimenting with recycled laptops. Early retirement means I have more time than money. Laptops with P2 and 196MB seem to perform adequately in my simple home hobby environment with a max of 2 calls at a time. I don't see paging, but I'm not really using all the PIAF functions.

I'm running piaf on an IBM x22 with 512MB ram 3 extensions and an iax trunk to the office system. Works fine. no stuttering, I reboot it weekly just to flush things out.

 

[real_goose]

I reboot it weekly just to flush things out.

What part of the system needs flushing - Asterisk or the OS?

In a previous life I did Unix (AIX mainly) tech support and administration. It was not uncommon to have uptimes of over 700 days for production servers running things like SAP. Even with low memory, RHEL/CENTOS is mature enough that prophalatic reboots should be unnecessary. I run with lower memory than you and keep Asterisk up for weeks - until I fiddle with something and restart it.