New SBC Performance Stats with V16 Update 2 Beta
Now that v16 Update 2 Beta is out, it’s time to give you an interesting glimpse of the performance stats on the new and soon-to-be-stable SBC. Even though the 3CX SBC is a little silent worker connecting your remote IP phones to 3CX, our latest test results show that it’s a real workhorse with a powerful punch!
Performance on Raspberry Pi
On the latest Raspberry Pi 3B+, the new SBC running on Raspbian Stretch really shines, handling effortlessly concurrent external calls for 30min. on 40 IP phones and a total of 600+ BLFs. Based on a mixed codec test scenario with PCMA, PCMU, G722 and G729 over an encrypted tunnel, these metrics showcase this point:
CPU usage: The Pi’s CPU running the latest optimized code averages at ~20% under load.
Memory usage: The new SBC manages to consume ~18% of the 1GB available RAM on the resource-restricted Pi.
Network stats: Average bandwidth used under this stress test was 11.23MBit/s, i.e. ~5% of the Pi’s maximum throughput of ~224Mbps. To further verify network performance under this load, an additional test call using the PCMU codec recorded mean and max jitter at 2.54ms and 7.24ms respectively with zero packet loss.
Thermal performance: The Pi’s on-board temperature sensor measured a maximum 59.5°C peak while under the stress test load.
Performance on Intel x64
On the market-average and widely available Intel Core i7-2600, the new SBC running on Windows and Linux takes it up a notch! SBC’s multithreading logic takes advantage of the multiple CPU cores to handle this scenario: 30min. concurrent external calls to 100 IP phones on a Prioritized Hunt queue with an impressive 1700+ BLFs, all without breaking a sweat.
CPU usage: On a mixed test scenario with PCMA, PCMU, G722 and G729 codecs over an encrypted tunnel, the average CPU usage reached 6.25%.
Memory usage: On a test system with 8GB RAM, the average memory use was about 19%, i.e. less than 2GB.
Network stats: The average bandwidth used under this heavy load was a very acceptable ~34.6MBit/s, i.e. less than 3.5% for a Gigabit ethernet. While under this load, an additional test call using the G729 codec helped to verify network performance, with respective mean and max jitter at 0.61ms and 2.92ms with zero packet loss.
Performance on Your End
Keep in mind that network bandwidth, your PBX server and SBC specs, combined with your specific network architecture and usage are important factors for the performance on your end. These results are provided as a performance report on the new SBC and not as scaling guidelines for your setup. While your mileage may vary, also note that the new SBC logging controls can affect your SBC’s performance, as logging in “Verbose” mode taxes the system resources. For more info, check out the guides on how to configure and how to install the new 3CX SBC.
How to Upgrade 3CX
The new SBC requires V16 Update 2 Beta, with a valid and not self-signed SSL certificate. Click on “Updates” in the Management Console’s Dashboard, select “v16 Update 2 Beta” and click on “Download Selected” to install it on your PBX.
