Table of Contents
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First Launch and Setup Guide
EC2 INSTANCE RECOMMENDATIONS
Every company is unique in many ways, and their communication needs are no different! Years ago, it was easy to recommend hardware specs for Asterisk-based PBX systems. However, these days, VoIP has evolved into a total communication platform. While we will provide some general guidelines for EC2 hardware, it will be important to regularly check your server resources to ensure you on a properly sized-instance. This is especially true when first placing your new AWS FreePBX instance into production and any time your company experiences growth or drastic changes in the way you do business. One of the best features of AWS is the ability to change EC2 Instance Types and Sizes at any time, so you can rest assured that a proper balance between performance and cost can be achieved regardless of your company's size, now and in the future!
EC2 HARDWARE TYPES
For most environments where you simply want to take advantage of the normal suite of FreePBX services (calling, voicemail, fax, conferences, etc), the General Purpose Instance types (T3, T3a, M6, M6a) will provide the best combination of performance and value. If you are using a minimum amount of “intensive” services like conference rooms and queues, the T3 or T3a types will suffice. If you are planning to host a lot of extensions, conference rooms, 3rd party software (see below), etc., you will want to take advantage of the more dedicated performance of “M-Types” (M6, M6a, M7i, M7a, M8i, M8a).
EC2 HARDWARE SIZES
This is the more difficult aspect to predict ahead of a deployment, as there are many factors that ultimately determine the size of instance (CPUs/RAM) you choose. You should also note that Compute Optimized C-Types and Memory Optimized R-Types have unbalanced hardware specs when compared to General Purpose T- or M-Types. Of course, once your server is in production, it is important to periodically check the resource usage on your FreePBX instance during times of PEAK CALL VOLUME to ensure you are using the correct size for your needs. An instance sized too small will lead to instability, audio issues, dropped calls, and even server crashes. An instance sized too large will waste money.
Assuming you don't have a super large deployment with your current phone solution, feel free to start with the M6a.large or M6a.xlarge instance type to get started. Once you have placed your instance in production, you'll want to monitor your resources during periods of peak call activity and adjust your instance size accordingly. Here are several ways to monitor your resources:
STORAGE RECOMMENDATIONS
Our AMIs launch with a default storage configuration as follows:
Volume
Root
Spool
Default Size
50GiB
50GiB
Purpose
OS, Asterisk/FreePBX Core, Modules, other Software, Logs; Mounted as /
Recordings, Voicemail (Greetings and Messages), Faxes; Mounted as /var/spool/
CONTRACT MANAGEMENT
Once you have determined your Instance Type.Size and Storage needs, you need to Choose your desired Contract Type, Subscribe to our Product, and Launch your first Instance. You can view any existing Software Subscriptions here.
CREATING A NEW CONTRACT
Once you have decided on an appropriate instance type, click the Launch an Instance link below (opens in a new tab/window) to open our AWS Marketplace Page. Then click Continue to proceed:
PRIVACY WARNING: Clicking the “Launch an Instance” button on this page will expose your personal information to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and their affiliates for the purposes of processing your subscription. Click here to view our Total Privacy Policy.
Once on our Product page, choose the Try for Free button.
If this is the first time you are trying our product, you will be offered a 30-day trial with no Software charges (hardware/storage charges still apply). If you've used our product before, you will not be offered the 30-day trial and will be charged for each instance from launch unless you already have an Annual Contract to cover it.
CONTRACT TYPES
In either scenario, you must also choose how you wish to pay for your Software. We offer two options:
Usage Based (Hourly)
You will pay an hourly flat rate based on the Type.Size of the instance for every hour the instance is in a Running state.
Annual Contract
You will pay the full 12-month term up-front based on the Type.Size you intend to run in exchange for a 17% discount on the Software charges versus paying Hourly. You should only use this option if you are already confident in which Type.Size Instance you need for your deployment. You can manage your subscriptions any time and add Annual Contracts to cover any Instances that are stably on a particular Type.Size after your Instance is in Production.
FIRST LAUNCH AND SETUP
If you already have an agreement in place and simply want to launch additional instances, see LAUNCH VIA EC2 CONSOLE below.
LAUNCH VIA CONTRACT PAGE
If you are launching directly from a new Contract signup above, simply choose the Launch your Software button on the page to proceed:
You'll need to select Launch from EC2 Console and choose your desired Region, then click the final Launch from EC2 button.
Now you may skip down to Configure the Remaining Launch Details
LAUNCH VIA EC2 CONSOLE
Alternatively, if you already have an agreement in place and wish to launch a new instance directly from within the EC2 Console, simply click the Launch Instance(s) button within the EC2 Console, then type AWS FreePBX into the Catalog search box and press Enter to bring up the full search window, click the AWS Marketplace AMIs tab, then Select our product from the results. In the popup, choose Subscribe now. (Yes, it is redundant.)
Sorting results by AWS Customer Rating will bring us to the top of the list. 
