Has anyone tried running Asterisk the PBX system for Linux? Any pointer in choosing the right hardware and software is appreciated. I am planning to buy a machine specifically for the PBX setup and want to make sure I do the right thing. Thanks.
Yea, I do this all the time, I'm a big VoIP consultant and have designed VoIP autodialers/voice broadcasting systems using voip for mortgage and mortgage lead generation companies, I have installed tons of PBX systems for clients and even run my own for myself. Check out voip-info.org there is a great article about Asterisk specs and the hardware needed. If you tell me more about the size and what you want to do with your Asterisk sytem I can give you an idea of specs. Also check out freepbx.org for a nice web interface for configuration. On general a 10 line system can run on a AMD Sempron with 512mb ram.
You can also find more info/resources at http://www.asterisk.org/ http://www.worldofvoip.com/archives/2006/03/asterisk_resour.html