PIAF OpenVZ 32/64-bit Templates

[wardmundy]

UPDATED: We're delighted to announce the immediate availability of the new PBX in a Flash 1.5 OpenVZ image. Our extra special thanks to Wolf Paul for his tireless efforts in getting this just about perfect. After you start the OpenVZ image, count to about 15 to give Asterisk time to properly load.

This image is ideal for use on the free Proxmox server. For setup instructions, see this Nerd Vittles article. Be aware that conferencing and zaptel/dahdi are not yet supported. Aside from that, the entire FreePBX 2.5 install is included in the image so it is truly plug-and-play. If you want the Orgasmatron V feature set with free Google Voice calling in the U.S. and Canada, just run through that install procedure. Whatever you do, be sure to run passwd-master from the command prompt as soon as you bring the image on line to secure your passwords because the default FreePBX password is password. Enjoy!

The OpenVZ image is available on our beta download site. During evening hours (East Coast time), you also can download it from charleston.pbxinaflash.net.

[dad311]

What the advantage of using OpenVZ vs the KVM install?

[wardmundy]

With the ISO/KVM approach, you still have to go through the 15-20 minute installation scenario just as if you had put a PIAF boot CD into a fresh machine. Of course with Proxmox, you can clone an existing KVM virtual machine to another VM once you get the first one set up. But they don't migrate well to different hardware.

An OpenVZ image on the other hand is a snapshot of a fully-functional PIAF server so it's ready for use as soon as you start it up... which is about a 10 second process compared to a normal PIAF boot.

As far as setup goes, you can build virtual machines from an OpenVZ image in less than a minute each.

With Dell T105's now on sale for under $300, there's no better time to start your Proxmox adventure.

[dad311]

The T105s are on sale, but only 2 CPU cores(vs 4 cores), only 2 gig of memory(vs 4 gig) and the disks ar 160 gig(vs 250 gig).

So you must ask yourself, are they really on sale?

[wardmundy]

You couldn't build a machine of that quality for $250. We always buy the base machine from Dell and add RAM and big disks from elsewhere. Saves a pile of dough. And, yes, we prefer the Quad Core flavor, too.

[jehowe]

For those spec's and $250, that's still a very good deal. You'd be able to install quite a few PIAF VM's on 160GB, keeping perhaps 2~4 active at any one time (depending how hard they're being used).

[wardmundy]

The training session we did last summer on the west coast used a customer-supplied Dual Core machine with 8GB of RAM. We ran 8 simultaneous PBX in a Flash servers for 16 students with no problems at all. You can bump up the Dell T105 to 8GB for an additional $100 (even at Dell prices) which is money well spent if you're going to use Proxmox.

[KUMARULLAL]

The Dell T105 AMD CPU. Does it support KVM virtulization?

[dad311]

Just a FYI for anyone looking to buy the T105. There seems to be an issue with Proxmox(Debian) and the DVD drive. I had to connect an external CDROM to boot and load software.

[wardmundy]

Correct. You do need an external USB CD or DVD drive. AMD's Quad Core processors support virtualization so I would think the Dual Core probably does as well... not a guarantee.