What is the best FreePBX Distro setup?

Distro Discussion & Help
1

Hi everyone,

I am planning to setup FreePBX distro and I was curious to hear which setup is best, should I keep data and voice on separate networks or same?

Please feel free to give your inputs.

  • I intend to setup a 20 channel system
  • Using 18GB RAM with Xeon E5606 - 2.13GHz
  • I have a 20Mbps Cable internet service. (I can upgrade speed)
  • 1.2TB raid 5 HDD

Thank you in advance and hope to hear from your experiences!

Regards,

Beastman

2

1 - That machine is way over sized for the application
2 - Are you sharing the Internet service with the voice?
3 - That’s a lot of HD space for a phone system!
4 - One you didn’t tell - Do you have managed PoE switch?

What kind of phones are you leaning to?

3

TY for the reply SkykingOH.

1 - That machine is way over sized for the application
Ok, what would you recommended for a good machine size and HD capacity to support a 20 channel system?

2 - Are you sharing the Internet service with the voice?
Yes we are at the moment, I’m in a testing phase and it seems fine but I’m only running 3 users/phones. I have read that it’s better to have separate internet for data and voice but I was wondering if we can just increase the bandwidth to a 30Mbps or 60Mbps plan or higher if needed. I don’t want to rewire the office for the SIP phones!

4 - One you didn’t tell - Do you have managed PoE switch?
We are shopping for some, so yes will have PoE switches.

5 - What kind of phones are you leaning to?
We are looking at Cisco phones, either 504G or 514G.

Thanks in advance…

4

I forgot to mention that we will actually be 50 users using a 20 channel system.

5

When you say 20 channel system do you mean 20 simultaneous calls?

Will each of the 50 users have a phone?

6

Take a look in the freepbx store. They sell hardware that is preinstalled.

7

Yes, 20 simultaneous calls and each user will have a phone. I have looked at the hardware specs, but there is no mention for how many users it’s supports.

8

The classic box will more than handle what you have described.

9

TY Alan - do you have any suggestions for the other concerns I had regarding the setup? Like, splitting voice and data?

10

I have installed systems using a single flat LAN as well as using VLANs. It is easier to use a single LAN but there is a risk of having data suck up bandwidth and degrade voice. VLANs are a bit more work and you need managed switches. The safe bet is to use VLANs to separate and prioritize voice traffic.

I have also setup systems that used shared internet bandwidth and systems that use dedicated bandwidth for voice. You did not mention what type of voice trunks you will be using but I will assume SIP.

11

yes, will use SIP trunk - I will look into the VLANs option…

What about if I increase bandwidth and use QoS to prioritize voice, do you think that would eliminate the risk of data being sucked up the bandwidth?

thanks for the info!

12

Since you only can control one side of you circuit QoS will only work one way. Nothing to stop downloads. You can discard packets but that is marginal at bese at doesn’t guarantee the voice will be the next packet that gets in.

The best solution in my opinion is to get a second low bandwidth (with at least 1M up) cable connection and use just for voice.

13

ok will do that - I just want to clarify something, does this mean I will have to put this second cable connection for voice on a different network or can I keep on the same one?

Thanks again Skyking

14

ok, got it…

1- use dedicated cable internet for voice
2- implement VLANs to dedicate network for voice

I have a question regarding fail over, if I purchase a freepbx extreme server would it make sense to use “PSTN” card for PRI line going to PBX if VoIP connection drops?

Thanks again gentleman for all the help!