PIAF + SUGARCRM [Community Edition]

[eCase]

Hey Guys,

PIAF Purple [v17571] installs with Apache, MySQL, PHP, correct?
If I wanted to implement SUGARCRM to run with PIAF, do you recommend I install on my PIAF server, or should I install SUGARCRM on a separate machine?
I think Darmock or someone may have told me months ago to only install PIAF on a stand-alone machine and dedicate the box exclusively for PIAF. The isolation/separation of my pbx makes sense... However, my System Stats are almost always around:
Processor
Load AVG: 0.50
CPU: 0-1%
Memory: 7%
Swap: 0%
My server is an Intel SHG2 server-board w/ two XEON dual-core processors @ 2.20GHz, using 4GB RAM.

Is it safe to install SUGARCRM on this current box, along with PIAF?????

Many thanks, Guys!

 

[darmock]

Yup I recommended you install on separate machines.

In order to answer your question I will make a statement:

That Depends!

Questions like

How big a DB in sugar
How many users
How many simultaneous phone calls
etc

I have installed sugar on a number of commercial systems both integrated and non integrated on the PIAF server. Initially the integration worked great but they were large installs with a number of simultaneous users and processes and as the demand went up the call quality went down. Eventually we moved sugar to separate servers and things went back to normal. In one particular "small" install sugar and PIAF worked just fine on a single server. I know several installs where sugar and piaf are running in separate VM's on the same host machine. Beyond that it honestly depends.

Keep me posted always interested in stuff like this.


Tom

 

[Stewart]

Most of the installs I do have it installed on the pbx because it's only used as a Global Contact List through the sugarcrm.php script for Aastra phones. It doesnt get updated except for php compatibility. At our office it is installed in a separate VM since we actually it as a full CRM and the extra load shouldn't be placed on the pbx.

 

[lowno]

I have put them on the same box before and ti was fine. 10 - 15 concurrent calls with g729, about 15 users. Only 2 gigs of ram. It's really a single point of failure issue.

 

[eCase]

Hey Darmock/Stewart & everybody else:
Regarding a separate VM...
I'm not sure if my old SHG2 motherboard with XEON processors (2.2GHz) is capable of running VM OS environments. I don't see the vmx flag when I issue cml command:

cat /proc/cpuinfo

There's some other things I still should check, like BIOS updates and such.

<-VM question for the forum->
Which is better, with respect to Call Quality and System Dependability:
[a] to have two Virtual OS environments running on one machine. One VM OS to run PIAF, the other to run SUGARCRM.
One machine with one OS, using the PIAF iso bundle, which includes Apache, MySQL, and PHP. Then after complete PIAF install, customization, and backup, install Sugar Community Edition, using the same Apache, MySQL, and PHP that came with PIAF.
[c] Two machines; One machine to handle non-VM PIAF load (PIAF running on hardware). The other machine would be a Windows 7 64-bit machine that can either:
Run SUGARCRM on Linux OS and implemented with VMWARE Player or similar
[ii] Run SUGARCRM on Windows, non-VM, by installing the Windows version "the complete Open Source stack (Apache, SQL Server Express, PHP) with Sugar Community Edition already included". So in other words, run a second Apache, SQL Server Express, & PHP on the Windows 7 machine.

Another question: Is SUGARCRM a good fit for me to try as a first attempt? How is the learning curve? I have zero experience with Apache, SQL or MySQL, or PHP - except the little I've picked up through PIAF. Would it be easier for me to give ASTERCRM a try?

Thanks for the tips and feedback guys! I'll be trying this out over the weekend (and probably next week and weekend)

 

[myitguy]

Hey Darmock/Stewart & everybody else:
Regarding a separate VM...
I'm not sure if my old SHG2 motherboard with XEON processors (2.2GHz) is capable of running VM OS environments. I don't see the vmx flag when I issue cml command:

cat /proc/cpuinfo

There's some other things I still should check, like BIOS updates and such.

<-VM question for the forum->
Which is better, with respect to Call Quality and System Dependability:
[a] to have two Virtual OS environments running on one machine. One VM OS to run PIAF, the other to run SUGARCRM.
One machine with one OS, using the PIAF iso bundle, which includes Apache, MySQL, and PHP. Then after complete PIAF install, customization, and backup, install Sugar Community Edition, using the same Apache, MySQL, and PHP that came with PIAF.
[c] Two machines; One machine to handle non-VM PIAF load (PIAF running on hardware). The other machine would be a Windows 7 64-bit machine that can either:
Run SUGARCRM on Linux OS and implemented with VMWARE Player or similar
[ii] Run SUGARCRM on Windows, non-VM, by installing the Windows version "the complete Open Source stack (Apache, SQL Server Express, PHP) with Sugar Community Edition already included". So in other words, run a second Apache, SQL Server Express, & PHP on the Windows 7 machine.

Another question: Is SUGARCRM a good fit for me to try as a first attempt? How is the learning curve? I have zero experience with Apache, SQL or MySQL, or PHP - except the little I've picked up through PIAF. Would it be easier for me to give ASTERCRM a try?

Thanks for the tips and feedback guys! I'll be trying this out over the weekend (and probably next week and weekend)

I would recommend option C - It's always best to run Asterisk on dedicated hardware when/where possible. Or as an alternative you can run PIAF on the dedicated hardware and SugarCRM on your webhost (Plug: If you don't have a web host check out my site: cingularhosting.net - Coupon Code GHIMQ138 gets you 15% off shared/colocation services).

As far as SugarCRM itself, it should be pretty easy for you to install and run on your first attempt. But I don't see where you mentioned how you want to utilize SugarCRM. If you're just using it for contacts/tracking purposes then you should be good, but if you want to do advanced items such as billing/invoicing then you may want to review your options a bit more.

If you're unsure, I'd be happy to install an instance real quick and let you use it for a few days to see if it fits your needs.

 

[womble1]

Where can you get this sugar CRM php script ?
Is it the best way for a global address book oman aastra ?

 

[myitguy]

Where can you get this sugar CRM php script ?

http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/download

 

[womble1]

No the Aastra script ?
Is it worth installing Sugar just for the Aastra Addressbook ? or can we get that some other way ?
Would love Apple Addreess book server integration

 

[myitguy]

No the Aastra script ?
Is it worth installing Sugar just for the Aastra Addressbook ? or can we get that some other way ?
Would love Apple Addreess book server integration

I think the script is included in the XML Scripts here, but I haven't installed it so I can't confirm this:
http://pbxinaflash.com/community/threads/aastra-xml-scripts-2-3-1-beta.10179/?t=10179

If you're just looking for an address book then SugarCRM might be a bit of overkill for that. From what I found the phones can reference a CSV file, or you can create/host your own PHP code that pulls from your preferred data source and generates an XML Listing.

 

[eCase]

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/introduction-to-server-virtualization/6074941

For future readers looking for visualization intro.