asterisk users - May 2005 - Need off-the-shelve PC for Asterisk Server

Does any one have any recommendations on an off-the-shelve PC for an
Asterisk Server? This is for a proof of concept, so it needs to be
inexpensive. I have tried 2 different PC's and had problems with the sound
cards. I am thinking of PC's I can buy from local dealers like Best Buy,
Office Depot. SO a cheap HP, Compaq or eMachine would work fine for me.

--Steve

Dell's entry level line of servers is very Linux friendly.
I use poweredge for some production systems (yes, even with a single drive)
but if is only for a proof of concept, then a $50 Compaq deskpro which 
are also Linux friendly might be an option.

Stephen McAllister wrote:
>Does any one have any recommendations on an off-the-shelve PC for an
>Asterisk Server? This is for a proof of concept, so it needs to be
>inexpensive. 
>

Stephen McAllister wrote:
>Does any one have any recommendations on an off-the-shelve PC for an
>Asterisk Server? This is for a proof of concept, so it needs to be
>inexpensive. I have tried 2 different PC's and had problems with the
sound
>cards. I am thinking of PC's I can buy from local dealers like Best Buy,
>Office Depot. SO a cheap HP, Compaq or eMachine would work fine for me.
>  
>
Or you can rent a cheapo dedicated box and have a play with that by just 
doing VoIP...

-- 
Ykoz Un Max - La VoIP en pr?-pay?!
Essayez gratuitement - 5 cr?dits offerts.
---> http://ykoz.net/voip/max <---

>then a $50 Compaq deskpro which 
>are also Linux friendly might be an option.
I'm using Deskpro EN P-II 400's and Celeron 533's for remote IAX
servers and
they work fine, except for PCI; they have a wierd bus that's kind of PCI 2.1
or 2.2 depending on ROM revision. I note this because someone might run into
an issue with a Digium card on these PC's; a Deskpro EN is an extremely
popular Ebay-style computer because of corporate off-leases. I picked up 120
of them for $350 Cdn. I went through this pain with PCI 2.2 cards on these
systems so I hope documenting it on the list will help someone in the
future. Compaq changed the BIOS around August 2000 to improve wake-on-LAN
compatibility with 3rd party NIC's; that rev broke PCI 2.2 compatibility
with a good number of PCI cards including the TDM400. Symptom is, system
will power up, no video. Not nessisarily with a Digium card but almost any
2.2 card you put in there. Take the card out, boots fine. The workaround is
to *downgrade* the system ROM to ROM 686T3 dated 4/14/98 and pretty much
everything works. Deskpro EN's are a great choice because they are
bulletproof (low failure rate) and well documented. I expect to run these $3
PC's as IAX servers for the next 10 years, at least.