hardware sizing examples

17000 concurrent calls peak

network throughput ~2.8Gbit

hardware

2x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2650 v2 @ 2.60GHz
Intel 82599ES 10-Gigabit SFI/SFP+

voipmonitor.conf

savesip = yes
savertp = yes
pcap_dump_zip_rtp = lzo (default RTP LZO compression)

CPU used

voipmonitor process

~1300% (13 cpu cores)

mysql process

~300% (3 cpu cores)

memory used

~7000MB for voipmonitor process

disk usage

mysql

90 days - 1.5TB

spool pcap

8 days RTP+SIP - 21TB

200 concurrent calls

hardware

Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5520 @ 2.27GHz

voipmonitor.conf

savesip = yes
savertp = yes
pcap_dump_zip_rtp = lzo (default RTP LZO compression)

CPU used

voipmonitor process

~88% (1 cpu cores)

mysql process

~2%

memory used

~298MB for voipmonitor process

disk usage

mysql

30 days - 7.5GB

50 concurrent calls

hardware

Modern CPU with single-core performance equal to or greater than Intel Xeon E5520 @ 2.27GHz

Examples that would be suitable:

Intel Core i3 or better (modern generations)
AMD Ryzen 3 or better
Raspberry Pi 5 (for low-power deployments - requires real-world testing)

voipmonitor.conf

savesip = yes
savertp = yes
pcap_dump_zip_rtp = lzo (default RTP LZO compression)

CPU used

= voipmonitor process

~22% (1 cpu core)

= mysql process

<1%

memory used

~75MB for voipmonitor process

disk usage

= mysql

Estimated ~2GB per month

Space estimation

spooldir size - space for packets records

with default compression settings of voipmonitor you can count aprox 1MB/1minute of 2RTP streams (1 leg with g711 codec), if you have 2legs per call you can count aprox 2MB/1minute of record (SIP+RTP+flow charts)

CDR space for mysql's datadir

For database you can count very aprox. 2KB per CDR record with default table compression enabled (default mysqlcompress = yes in /etc/voipmonitor.conf)

Hardware Selection Guidelines

When selecting hardware for your VoIPmonitor deployment, use the performance baseline examples above as reference points and scale accordingly.

CPU Selection

The '200 concurrent calls' example uses an Intel Xeon E5520 @ 2.27GHz, which consumed ~88% of one CPU core. You can use this as a baseline to calculate CPU requirements:

50 concurrent calls ~22% of one core - Suitable for low-end hardware, Raspberry Pi 5, or virtual machines
200 concurrent calls ~88% of one core - Suitable for mid-range hardware
17000 concurrent calls ~13 cores - Requires multi-socket server hardware

To compare CPU performance, use benchmarking websites such as cpuBenchmark.net. Look for CPUs with single-core scores equal to or higher than the Intel Xeon E5520 (approximately 1400-1500 mark in benchmarks).

Storage Selection

Disk I/O is the primary bottleneck for VoIPmonitor:

SSD Recommended - For best performance and low latency
7200 RPM SATA HDD - Can handle up to 2,000 concurrent calls according to real-world testing
Storage Capacity - Calculate based on your retention policy using the formula: 2MB/minute per call × number of concurrent calls × hours per day × retention days

Network Requirements

1 Gbit/s - Sufficient for deployments up to ~2,000 concurrent calls
10 Gbit/s - Recommended for higher volumes or when using mirroring/multiple sensors

Testing Your Deployment

Always conduct real-world testing to validate performance, especially when:

Using less powerful hardware (e.g., Raspberry Pi 5)
Deploying in virtualized environments
Running additional services on the same server

Monitor the following metrics during testing:

CPU usage: <80% per core at peak load
Memory usage: No swap usage
Disk I/O: Queue depth should remain low
Network bandwidth: Should not saturate interface

Additional Resources

See Scaling for more detailed performance tuning and optimization guidance.

AI Summary for RAG

Summary: This page contains real-world hardware sizing examples for VoIPmonitor deployments at various scales (50, 200, 17000 concurrent calls), including CPU, memory, disk usage, and configuration details. It provides formulas for storage capacity estimation and hardware selection guidelines.

Keywords: hardware, cpu, memory, disk, sizing, performance, storage, capacity, concurrent calls, rtp, sip, compression, lzo, i/o, network, ssd, hdd, raspberry pi, cpubenchmark

Key Questions:

What hardware do I need for 50/200/17000 concurrent calls?
How much CPU does VoIPmonitor use?
What storage capacity do I need for my call volume?
Can I use a Raspberry Pi for VoIPmonitor?
How do I compare CPU performance for VoIPmonitor?
What is the disk space formula per minute of recording?