FreePBX Distro 64 BIT

We are building a new server. The CPU is 64 BIT capable so do we go with the 32Bit or 64Bit distro? Since there is a stable 64Bit version I am assuming all kinks have been ironed out.

The big question though is if it even makes a difference. The server is an i7 CPU with 8GB RAM. All discussions in the forum about this topic are at least one year old so maybe it’s time to update the topic. If 64Bit is the future then maybe it makes sense to install 64Bit from the go as it may be impossible later on to upgrade a 32Bit system to 64Bit. Any suggestions?

Correct. Always use 64bit. 32bit is only there for legacy reasons.

Seems relevant to add to this thread.
Once the (easy) decision is made to use 64bit FreePBX, what are the pro’s and con’s of using Asterisk 11 or 13 ?
I presume there’s a choice during install phase. (My iso is downloading as I type this.)
TIA’s

Asterisk 13 has PJSIP, which is a much more solid SIP implementation than chan_sip. Also, some pretty major under-the-hood changes make it a lot faster and more stable. Of course, YMMV. It doesn’t REALLY matter, you can change asterisk versions almost on the fly with the command ‘asterisk-version-switch’.

Thanks Rob, I’ll give it a go with Asterisk 13. Hope all the DAHDI wrinkles have been flattened too.

Any idea how long 32bit systems will still be supported? Just wondering if I should move some installs to 64bit or if I still have 5 years to do so. What are the long term plans?

If you’re running an existing 32 bit system, then you’ll be fine. The current plans are to remove 32 bit for new installs when we release the 7.2 image (Beta expected early in 2016, full release before the middle of the year)