Server for Voice lab

nellocon

Hi folks
I have all the network equipment I need but now need a server that can run esxi for my voice lab.
Can someone advise the best type server for this please.

Nothing too expensive but enough to get job done

skinsFan202

you don't necessarily have to buy an actual server.. As cheap as RAM is these days, if your Mobo can handle it.. you could stick some more memory in your desktop and run it from there

wintermute000

You want enough RAM to spin up at least 4 VMs so 16+Gb. As long as your Proc is an i7 or better (Xeon) you'll be fine on that front.
- Publisher
- Subscriber
- Presence
- Unity

- AD/LDAP ideally

bobfromfpl

I'm not sure of your budget but I use something similar to this, purchased from a member on INE website
1TB HDD Cisco CCIE CCVP Voice VMware 5 1 Cucm Cups Uccx 8 6 for Dell 1950 Server | eBay

Jollycork

I bought this one a while back. . Cisco CCIE Voice Lab Cucm 7 Pub Sub Unity CUC Presence Cup Uccx VMS | eBay using VMware Workstation 7. everything works and it's cheap. It's CUCM 7, but it's the whole suite and works on any server. Note: CUCM doesn't like AMD processors, especially some features in Unity. But if you use Intel Xeons, no problems. As another mentioned at least 16GB memory, more is better. Each VM takes 2 GB memory and 1 processor plus HDD space. While CUCM 8 & 9 are out, working with 7 can give you a solid foundation on Callmanager Unity Connection and Presence. As another mentioned. LDAP intergration you'll see in the "real world" long with Active Directory.

nellocon

Hi folks, thanks for the replies so far. I was thinking of purchasing the below as a home lab/PC. Would this be enough to run a full CCIE voice lab in Vmware Workstation?

Zoostorm Desktop PC - Desktops | Ebuyer.com

wintermute000

If not it would be damned close. YOu would defo be able to load the pub and sub and at least one app server (CUC or PResence) if not all 4.

nellocon

I think I read somewhere that you need 2Gb of RAM per CUCM server and CUC and I am just assuming that CUPS and UCCX also need 2 Gb of RAM.

So in total, I think 16Gb should cover the entire lab. Thanks.

sacredboy

Guys please clarify one question concerning server for voice lab. Is it mandatory for server to be one from brand names such as HP, Dell and etc or it can be any hand-assembled PC that meets the requirements for voice software?

rchase

Before you start buying upgrades like RAM for just any old PC you have, check the BIOS settings to see if there is an "allow hardware virtualization" setting. If hardware virtualization is not supported, it won't work.

This happened to me trying to use an Acer Aspire tower. I ended up buying a HP Workstation x8600 instead. I have 16gb RAM which is the minimum you'll need. I also have a 4tb Iomega NAS, VMware installed with CUCM PUB, SUB, CUC, CUPS, UCCX, XP machines, and Windows Server eat up alot of hdd space due to their need for min disk requirements. They also have min RAM requirements, but I drop them all down to about 1-2gb RAM each after the install is finished and they don't complain. The Windows SBS 2011 is the worst - consuming 4gb RAM minimum

sacredboy

Does Cisco Voice software run only on VMWare ESXi or I can use VMWare Workstation?

azaghul

It runs well in VMWare Workstation also.

megatran808

sacredboy wrote: »

Does Cisco Voice software run only on VMWare ESXi or I can use VMWare Workstation?

Once you have it installed on ESXi or VMWare workstation. You can export it as a OVF and import it into other Hypervisors such as XenServer. I am running CUCM/CUC 8.6 on XenServer. Works just fine.

sacredboy

Guys, please give me a piece of advice/recommendation regarding a motherboard and CPU which support hardware virtualization and therefore can be installed for server.

azaghul

My first home built server was a first generation Intel i7, 16GB RAM on an Asus P7P55D motherboard, supported hardware virtualization without issues. Not top of the line, but it worked. Had 3-4 HDD and an Intel 1000 Pro Quad NIC.

klampkin

nellocon wrote: »

Hi folks
I have all the network equipment I need but now need a server that can run esxi for my voice lab.
Can someone advise the best type server for this please.

Nothing too expensive but enough to get job done

nellocon: What is your price range?
I got my voice lab server from ebay. This was about 6-7months ago.
I purchased a Dell Poweredge 1950 III server 2x QC 2.33GHz 16GB 2x 1TB Quad Core 2x Power Sup
I'm running VMware ESXi 5.1 on it.
The only problem i ran into was when i was trying to install the UCCX 7.0, since UCCX 7.0 will not run install on "Non-Cisco" server
But I found a work around that on my Google search. All you need to do is to change the registry key settings:
KEY – Hkey_local_machine/software/Cisco Systems/Model
String Value – Hardware 7835H04
String Value – Memory 2048
String Value – Speed 3400

All the best!

theodoxa

Does it have to have an Intel Processor or will a much cheaper [equivalent] AMD work?

sacredboy

azaghul wrote: »

My first home built server was a first generation Intel i7, 16GB RAM on an Asus P7P55D motherboard, supported hardware virtualization without issues. Not top of the line, but it worked. Had 3-4 HDD and an Intel 1000 Pro Quad NIC.

Did it allow to install all voice software? And why so many HDDs?

azaghul

theodoxa

Though its probably been fixed by now, most people here have had better success with Intel.

sacredboy

Had CUCM Publisher & Subscriber, CUCx, Windows Server 2008 (for Active Directory) without a problem. Never quite got to installing CUPS and Exchange... I used 1 x 80GB HDD as a boot drive and ISO store, the rest just to spread the apps across. I found it easiest to do a pre-install for each VM (install without the config wizard), take a snapshot, then do the final install from that point.

salomon

Hi Guys,

how U think, dell t110 x3450, 16gb, 1TB its enough for VM and install:

Win 2K8
CUCM (Pub, Sub) 8.0 (8.6)
CUC 8.0 (8.6)
CUP 8.0 (8.6)

azaghul

That setup should do nicely. You can always add another HDD if needed.